《Growing Puppets》 Prologue I''ve been playing... or played Mosaic for about 10 years and I still don''t know everything about it. It''s been a year since I got transported here. This game showed up on the eve of Christmas on 2243. It was free to play and soon the user base grew like wildfire. You could do anything in this game, and the open world was vast. The AIs expanded the world regularly, and if that wasn¡¯t enough there were a lot of hidden areas. Before I got transported the highest player level was 427; I don''t know what it is now since the leaderboards stopped working with many of the menu options. From the information, I''ve gathered only a few players were transported. The game also had no max level, it was completely based on how you played. The game was completely broken and that¡¯s what everyone loved about it. It wasn''t a game where you could pick a class when you reach a certain level but had to earn your class. Everyone started off as level 1 human. Then it just depended on how you played the game to get the other classes. You could change your race as well but that would make you lose your human levels, the max level for any race or job class was 10. If you wanted to be a warrior you would have to hunt and fight other warriors and that would gain you a level in Warrior. To gain higher levels you would have to do more warrior challenges. To become a Knight has its own challenges, after gaining level 5 in human, you have to join a country and apply for a knight position within that country. The trials for Knights are different in each country. Complete all that and there you have it, level 1 Knight. If you wanted to become a Vampire, you have to kill a Vampire boss and drink its blood. When you become a vampire, you lose all your human levels. So level 1 in vampire makes you lose 9 levels total, but for the most part, this is okay because vampire level 1 is still stronger than a level 10 human and you don''t notice any problems. But if you changed from human to undead, you''ll notice the change because the body of an undead is much weaker. There are many classes like this where there are no problems with switching and large consequences with switching. And switching back would be just as difficult as changing races in the first place. Then there are jobs only certain races can do, so depending on the race you switch to you could lose a lot of levels. So most stayed Human, especially after finding out there is a level up for human to Immortal, everyone opted for that option. There are multiple ways to become immortal as there are to becoming a Vampire. As such I am an immortal human as well, one who became immortal after drinking from The Unholy Grail. Most immortal humans in the game became immortal from swimming in the Fountain of Youth. Though we both obtained a similar immortal class, it seems our leveling system is different for I am only a level 3 immortal, and don''t know how to achieve the other levels, while others had already achieved level 10. But! The plus side with my way is, I get a cup to take home. Well, I''m not so worried about it anymore since I became level 368 just last week after coming to this world 1 year ago. I was 366 when I came here and it took me a year to raise 2 levels. I wasn¡¯t the strongest player in the game but in this world, it seems I am overpowered. I''ve been living under the radar for the most part since I came here, to build a new base and prepare myself with knowledge of this world. Knowledge, yes knowledge the most important ingredient in becoming a puppeteer. To the east an entire country fell to one man, people even started worshiping him as a god. It is clear that that man is a player. ''Myth'' the adventure party killed the Undead King a few months back, didn''t even know there was an Undead King. Then there is also the pharmacist Cobalt Medi. I''ve been laying low, as I always did even in the game. I have Player Killed in the game but I wasn''t really the best at it, I mostly just adventured and build my base. My base is my home. I don''t know how strong it is, and compared to the big guilds it probably isn''t that strong but thankfully it came along with me. It has three floors, the city, the lab, and my living area. It¡¯s all underground and built using real world money, it¡¯s pretty large especially the city. I hid my base by building it in the middle of a forest with the entrance looking like a broken down outdoor toilet. When you enter it, it looks like a broken down toilet too, but when you flush the toilet it becomes an elevator down to the first floor of my base. The Otnorot city, an underground city I build for my NPCs and as a way of guarding the rest of my base. Technically you could say there are 4 floors because of the Treasury. In the game dying has no level penalties instead, you lay dead for 20 minutes on the floor at which time they can steal whatever they want - everything they want - then you are force logged out for 3 days. You can log into a safe spot like Jesus after the 3 days are up. Well that was how it was in the game, I don''t want to test it out now that it¡¯s become real.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. I spent a lot of real world money on that base, so I been building another base that I could use without worry about being followed and having my real base found. With the NPCs help, it was pretty easy, however, it still took half a year because I wanted it to be good enough to live in comfortably, and not just a beautiful shell. This way even if someone finds this base I can retreat to my game base. Finally staying in the dark is over, I have done enough research on this world and found its average level to be around 15, with the exception of other players, and I have even taken over some tribes and small areas without revealing my true identity. In my command are a small dragon tribe, and mostly forest monsters. I don''t like the idea of owning slaves but killing them when they surrendered might be worse so I decided to treat them as my citizens in a sense and let them live. The preparations are done, time to attack. Or perhaps more accurately; time to grow my puppets.
Name: Verra
Human: 10 Monk: 10 Espionage : 10
Mage: 10 Kung Fu: 10 Fruit Power: 10
Great Sage: 10 Ninja: 10 Time Lord: 10
Farmer: 1 Bookworm:10 Witch¡¯s Hero: 8
Invincible: 10 Alchemist:10 Elementalist: 10
Blacksmith: 8 Cheater:10 Necromancer: 10
Ki Master: 10 Craftsman of Taboo: 10 Divine Magician: 0
Sharp Shooter: 10 Creator: 0 Healer: 0
Painter: 1 Dragon Slayer: 1 Summoner: 10
Deathless: 3 Vengeance: 10 Devourer of Life: 10
Lord of a Castle:10 Justice: 0 Kosmophagy: 10
Archery: 10 Tamer: 10 Destroyer: 10
Sword: 10 Babysitter: 1 Infected: 10
Spear: 10 Baby Killer: 1 Night: 4
Cooking: 1 Power of Hermes: 5 Explorer: 10
Strength of Hercules: 10 Samurai: 0 Vampire Hunter: 10
Engineer: 4 Commander: 6 God Slayer: 3
Fisher: 1
Total: 368
Chapter 1: Verra The perfect kind of villain is like Moriarty, someone who controls everything from the shadows. Leaving no trace behind for anyone to catch him, a puppet master of puppet masters. Webs so far and deep that spiders are tangled by them; that is the ideal villain. I always liked them more than the hero, because it took more effort to build something like a criminal organization than to destroy it. Though the better it''s built the harder it is to destroy, but it is always easier to destroy, and I appreciated the effort they put into building it. Don¡¯t know if I''ll make a good villain, though, given you have to spread drugs, murder people opposing you, human trafficking and all other kinds of shit. Human trafficking would be the hardest. Everything else I think I can do with an okay conscience; I''m not really a human trafficking kind of guy. Though I think I can do it, if I have to, to achieve my goals. Well for now let¡¯s solve the few mysteries that have presented itself in the past year. This estate, the Red King, the Temple that appears, the Shadow Legion - what a corny name - and I''m probably forgetting a few. Also on top of that, I''ll have to start increasing my own influence while not being noticed. "Haa~ this is going to be tough." "What''s going to be tough master Verra?" My sweet Rosey, you¡¯re the sweetest NPC I created. Your master is just thinking of how to rule the world from the shadows, and how difficult that''s going be. No need to worry your pretty silver head over it, even her eyes are silver, all pearly and silver. I wonder if her blood is silver too, never got to check that in the game. She''s so silvery, so cute. I must have stared at her for too long, she blushed like a little girl. "Master Verra, I think it''s best if you send one of your clones instead." I do send my clones out for everything, don''t I? It¡¯s become a normal part of my lifestyle. One of the skills from the Witch''s Hero class really reduced the amount of work I have to do personally. Though those bastards refuse to work if I don''t want to do it myself. They really are just like me; lazy bastards. There is no point even trying to negotiate with them this time, they''re going to refuse. "It won''t work Rosey." "Is that so? Then how about the ninjas." We already tried the ninjas, and they still weren''t able to find an entrance. "We tried the ninjas already, right? A spy might be better, but I think I''ll do this myself." It will be good to visit that city myself. I have my clones'' memories of going to the city as if they are my own, but nothings like going there yourself. She has become glum, just because I turned down a few suggestions. "Those were great suggestions Rosey, and I appreciate them as your master. But today I think I should go myself." "I understand Master Verra. I know the NPCs could never match your abilities." That again, no they''ll match up fine. She really perks up fast, doesn''t she? Today''s mission is difficult for me too, I might produce no results. "Um. Yes. Today I''m trying to find a secret passageway, so it can be quite difficult." "Of course you mean for the NPCs, for you, this must be child¡¯s play." Well, when you say it like that¡­ am I that amazing? If you believe in me that much it must be true. "Ah~ let¡¯s forget about that, first I must give you praise with the great work you have done here. You have turned what was a mere cave into a magnificent 2nd base for our future operations. Amazing, amazing, the only word to describe your work Rosey." "Thank you, master Verra~ Thank you~ Thank you so much~" She¡¯s getting all teary eyed and her words were getting all mumbled. I know I''m supposed to be used to this by now, but please stop. "Okay, that''s enough, let''s get back on topic: The Core Sorcerer¡¯s estate. We know from the blueprint the ninjas were able to get from the Sorcerer¡¯s diary that there are some secret rooms, but the ninjas have still to find the entrance leading to one of these rooms." "Should I command the ninjas to break down the walls?" "No, I already told them not to do that, but a good suggestion none the less." "Thank you, master Verra. I''m sure you''ll find the secret passage without needing to break walls." That is a lot of pressure. If you put that much pressure on me I''ll end up torturing the Core Sorcerer into telling me if I can''t find it myself. Then why didn''t we just kidnap the Sorcerer, to begin with? Right, I banned kidnapping till further notice. Let¡¯s just hope I find it without needing to use torture methods. I spread out the blueprint my NPCs made on the plain wooden table before me. The room I''m in is a nice size, about 21x17 feet. Around my table are 4 of my loyal NPCs: Rosey, Zwanzig, and 2 ninjas I forgot the name of. "Rosey make this my new office for this base. Get a few bookshelves, also replace this table with a proper desk... with drawers. I still haven''t given this place a name have I... this was a real cave we pimped up... I''ll call it the ''Cave''." Rosey became busy writing all of that down. I could live in this place just fine, really it''s a luxury, and only compared to Data-House - my in-game base - would this place look 3rd class. It was a mansion built inside a cave. It had 4 floors, but it wasn''t exactly a straight building that could be said to have floors; 4 sections would be more accurate. The four sections connected two openings. An opening in the middle of the mountain where we built a balcony, to an opening at the base of the mountain. The base was made by squaring out the cave as much as possible, getting rid of stalagmite and other irregular sections. Then reinforcing it with concrete, wood, and steel to make the whole thing. The whole process took 6 months with the help of some advanced magic. The finished building is made of rectangular sections mixed up like random Jenga blocks. It''s because we didn''t hole out the mountain, instead conformed to the naturally made cave. My real base is in the northern forest of this continent. Built in the game, with the CAD tools available only in the game, so it''s much better than this place. It cost real world money¡­ a lot of it. But that was the prize to pay for your own customizable base. It was built for secrecy since I didn''t belong to a guild. If someone found it they would try to take it over so secrecy was everything. I even built the entrance of my base like a broken down outdoor toilet so no one would be interested in breaking in, but if you open it and flush the toilet it converts to an elevator that goes straight down to the first floor of the Data-House. There are 3 floors excluding the treasury. The underground city, underground labs, and my - castle - room; these 3 floors make up Data-House. It¡¯s a place to retreat if this Cave gets discovered. I gave my next orders to the maid. "Alright, I''ll be going to the city of Tengai to meet the Sorcerer, so prepare something appropriate for me to wear. Also, I''ll be going in my old man form so take that into account." That was another skill obtained from the Witch''s Hero class; shape-shifting. I have 8 levels in the Witch''s Hero class. Each time I rescued a witch I gained a level and was bestowed a new skill. The first level allowed me to clone myself. The number of clones increased with each level, one clone with level 1 and two clones with level 2 and so on. With level 2 in the class, I gained a new skill from the second witch I rescued, which allowed me to shape-shift. With level 2 only one form, with level 3 another one. The only downside was that I couldn''t make my own character design but had to choose from the ones they allowed. The old man with a trimmed beard and gray hair down to his shoulder was my favorite out of all the choices I had. "Also my backstory will be that of a collector that collects very rare things. A very rich auction goer¡­ something along those lines. Take those points into account when you pick my disguise." "If that''s all master Verra, I''ll prepare it right away." Is there something else? No, that¡¯s all. "That''ll be all." The maid slightly bowed to me and left the room. I had already picked out my room in the Cave, and now I''ve picked out my office. All there is to be done is pick - build - the appropriate furniture. Now even if someone were to track me down to my Cave, I can abandon it and escape to my house; building this place was a good idea. This is what I been waiting for, I can finally go out into missions. "Now Rosey please bring the coachman." She was in charge of preparing the traveling arrangements, so she should know the driver. "Understood, Master Verra; I''ll do so right away." She ran out the door without even giving a bow. I''m not sure if that''s good or bad. I did tell them, they didn''t have to bow. So it''s good. The ninjas kept staring at me, though I can''t really tell with their masks. "Can you guys get me a chair?" They both disappeared into a wisp of shadow. Hmm¡­ this is nice, quietly standing here by myself. The first to come back were the ninjas, they just appeared behind me with the chair. "Thanks." I sat down and spread out the map of this continent on the table, over the roughly made blueprint of the estate. The NPCs worked hard to make this. It''s well made, unlike maps sold by the merchants in this world. The continent is shaped somewhat like a teardrop, with ridges and weird shapes at the sides. To the south is the pointy bit of the drop, and to the north-east is a lot of islands separating from the main body. "Master Verra I brought him." Rosey guided an old man into the room. He had a much-wrinkled face, gray hair, brown eyes, he was twisting his hat with his hands, like a tired worker come to meet the boss. "Y-yes, Master Verra, you called for me." He was an NPC made to look like a very poor old man. It''s kind of disturbing I made a person like this. "Yes, come in." He was still standing by the door, so I beckoned him in. "Do you know where you''ll be taking me today?" "Yes, Ms. Rosey told me." I see then I don''t need to explain too much. "Then you know how to get to Tengai?" "Yes, I''ve been there with one of Master''s clones before, but... if we have to depart from here..." "No need to worry there, I''ll teleport us closer to the Beast-Road." "Then there should be no problems!" He spoke very energetically for an old man. "Do you have any preference to where we are teleported to? As long as it''s somewhere people won''t notice the teleportation its fine." "Then how about here Master Verra." On the map, he pointed a bit east of where we are now. Still, within the forest we command, and far enough from the highway we won''t be noticed. "Alright, that''ll be fine¡­ I can teleport us closer to the highway if you like." A little bit closer should be fine. "No that''ll be fine Master Verra. From there we can head southeast, that''ll allow us to merge into the road without notice." This will be a longer journey, though, I was hoping to get to the city of Tengai much faster. After getting there we¡¯ll still need to go to the sorcerer¡¯s estate. If we do this, after we reach the Beast-Road we''ll have to keep heading south for at least an hour. He looks so confident, god dammit fine. "Alright, then we''ll head out..." When''s the maid going to be finished with picking out my clothes? "Rosey... No. I''ll go check with the maid... You guys wait here... No. We''ll meet again in an hour. Prepare yourself to depart, and come back here in an hour." "Understood, Master Verra." ¨‹¨‹¨‹ The city of Tengai is to the east of the continent. It''s called a city, but it''s a whole country as well. The country is shaped like a round spatter blot, with the most eastern part meeting the ocean. To its far north-west is the mountain range our Cave is based on. Directly north of Tengai is a mountain range which separates human settlements from the Beastman Nation: Jak. The Beast-Road connects the bestman nation with Tengai through the mountain range. The road goes beyond the beastman nation, and connects smaller city states as well, but it''s well known for connecting a beastman nation with human settlements. Even though these human cities connect with the Beast-Road, it has nothing to do with friendly relations between humans and beastman. It wasn''t even made by the countries, they were built by third-parties. "Master you look dashing." Is that sarcasm? "He looks good in everything." Rosey chimed in, correcting the maid. "That''s true." They were both appraising me and nodding along. "It would look better if he went in his normal form instead. Don''t you think so Peter?" Rosey was now trying to get the coachman in the conversation. "Yes, his messy black hair, and cold-dead black eyes are the best." What the hell are you saying old man? "How I look doesn''t matter!" I have to stop these fools from saying anything more. "And if I go as myself, it wouldn''t be a disguise now would it." "Then maybe we should get a longer trench coat?" Rosey maybe you should be quite. "This is fine." It goes down to my knees, that''s how it''s supposed to be right. "Anyway if you''re prepared we''ll head out." "I''m all set Master Verra." ¨‹¨‹¨‹ The city of Tengai doesn¡¯t have walls, or any protective barriers, but does have watchtowers all over the country. And the country is split up into the villages, the towns, and the city. It¡¯s a gradual build when entering from the outside. The village slowly turns into the town, and then into a large city at the center. The hustle and bustle of the city is great from an aesthetic perspective. To watch the many people running around energizes you along with the city, but that said it''s terrible when you''re trying to drive a coach through. The coach was moving slow enough for people to walk past us. The people were a range of races, this can only be seen in this country. A country of mixed races, it''s a beautiful sight, and that isn¡¯t just because of the hot elven girls. I really haven''t seen one ugly looking elf... Unless you have something against big ears. With the traffic, getting a visa, and signing into this hotel, robbed me of all my time. The sun''s setting, so I might as well go to the estate tomorrow. Maybe I should have gone with an adventurer¡¯s card; this visa is much more expensive and limits the amount of time I can spend here. You¡¯re not here as an adventurer. True, well¡­ whatever, it''s not like money is much of a problem. There¡¯s no real way to kick me even if I didn¡¯t get a visa, since I¡¯m not going to be working here I don¡¯t need an ID, but it¡¯s better to have it. "Is this fine without any servants?" This old man; why don¡¯t you go to your own room? I got it specifically so you won¡¯t be in mine, and I don¡¯t want servants. "Yeah, I''m fine on my own. After tomorrow you should go home as well. I''ll be staying here for a little bit longer." He''s acting way too shocked by that. "B-bbut how will you get around?" "There are taxies no? They should be fine." "Those filthy carriages can''t possibly carry someone like you Master Verra." "They¡¯re fine, you¡¯re going back tomorrow¡­ That''s an order." That stopped him. After a year I finally know how to deal with them a bit better. "If that is your wish Master Verra." Don''t act sad, and you don''t need to bow either. Fucking Christ. "You have something else to wear?" He gives me a confused look. "Do you have a proper suit or something?" Even NPCs have Slots they can put things in, and I''m sure I gave each NPC something to put in them. "No, I''m afraid I don''t Master Verra. But I have many hats, even a cowboy hat."This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Yeah, I might¡¯ve given them useless stuff. "Okay... Pick out something you like from my luggage. You and I are about the same size so it should be fine. I¡¯ll wait in the lobby, get dressed and come down." "B-bbb-" I left the room before he could respond, giving him only one choice. Seeing that look on an old man is annoying. Why did I make poor people? ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "You look good, I''ll get the tailors in Data-House to make you some of your own suits." I said giving him a pat on the shoulder. "That''s not necessary Maste-" "Not Master. Call me William remember. I''m not your master, and I''m not Verra either." Its good no one heard it. "Now let¡¯s go to the Golden Dionys." The moment I mentioned the most famous restaurant in the city, he starts mumbling ''if it''s fine''. I calmed him down a bit, and ordered a coach with the hotel. Again I was met with protest from the old man. "You can''t be the coachman if you''re going to be accompanying me into the restaurant now can you." Finally I was able to shut him up. That didn''t last for long before he started mumbling about one thing or another. The restaurant looked like if someone spilled gold all over it. It was distastefully gold, with the furniture all shining with gems and some form of glitter. It''s too much, it¡¯s designed ugly by someone who clearly has no taste. This would only look good to a child or a crow attracted by shiny things. "What would you gentlemen like to order?" A very sexy elf was our waitress. She has a bright smile, and her blond hair was in a bun; that olden timey look on someone young is just hot. "I''ll have an Onipo Legna." "Alright one Onipo Legna, and what about you sir." She turned to Peter, and I noticed a marking on her neck. That reminds me of my second objective here; the Red King. This country still allowed the owning of slaves just a year ago; when this new king took over a year ago and changed everything. The Red King Tinkula, who single handily took down the royal army and crowned himself king. He''s most probably a player. He took over this country at about the same time I got transported to this world. It''s highly likely he got transported around the same time. The old man was still trying to decide, so I gave him a look. "I''ll have the same as Ma- William. I mean William" She looked to me, and understood what he meant. She took down the note while mumbling, ''two Onipo Legna'', and took off with a smile. I can''t say the food was anything amazing, especially compared to what my chefs can make. From the food it might be that they didn''t even have a single level 10 cook; while my chefs have level 10 in Master Chef. I guess that''s the difference between NPCs I made in the game, and normal people who have to study hard to get here. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "Master Verra will you be fine here?" I told you to call me William, its good no one is around. "Yes I''ll be fine, I can walk to the estate from here. You can go back to the Cave now. I''ll tell Rosey to help with the teleportation at the prearranged spot." "But how''ll you get back to the hotel." You have a point. I''ll figure something out, I can''t deal with you anymore; sorry. I''m going to have to get a different coachman the next time I go anywhere. I know you mean well, but you''re just too annoying old man. "I''ll figure something out Peter. Now please go back." After he left, I found a good cafe and ordered some tea and snacks. I made sure to send Rosey a Message without anyone noticing. I probably just looked like some old man staring into space, maybe reminiscing about his old days or something. Or maybe I''m being too self-conscious and nobody was even paying attention. Since that seemed to be the case, I took out the Book of Thoth, Volume 1 from my Slot. I have 1, 2, and 5; there are 40 in total; it''s a rare item so it should catch the sorcerer¡¯s attention. This magic spell book contains only level 10 spells, and I don''t think this sorcerer can even cast one of them, but he should realize what it is. This is worthy enough for a collector to travel 100s of kilometers to get apprised by a well-known sorcerer. He shouldn''t suspect any ill motives when he sees this book. How should I proceed after I get in? You could ask him to analyze these spells to find out what they mean, or find out where this book is from or something and get him to let you stay over for a day or something. That should be more than enough time to find the secret entrance. It¡¯s normal for someone to come out of the blue with an item to have it appraised right? The spies did say he did this with some merchants before, so it should be fine. But without an appointment; screw it, it doesn''t matter. The hard part is getting him to let me stay the night. "Here''s the tea and snacks you ordered. You said anything was fine, so I hope Apple Pie is okay." "Yeah, that''s fine. Thanks." This waitress has a branding on her neck too. It looks like a lot of the citizens in this country were slaves. I have to hand it to the king for doing what he did, this is what the power of a player can do in this world. Easily take over an entire country. I bet these citizens love him. This does raise a few questions though. Did you come here at the same time as me, then he only waited a month before revealing his powers and taking over this country. Or did he wait years before taking over this country; if so then how deep is his influence? Then am I being naive in my own plans. My plans... should I tell my NPCs... No~ I shouldn''t, if they know too much and I fail, I''ll look like an idiot in their eyes. If I tell them nothing that way I can play it off. Everything only came out to be a few Bronze coins; I don''t even have Bronze coins. I paid with a copper. ¡°No, you can keep the change.¡± ¡°Thank you, come again!¡± This is probably why I don''t have any Bronze coins. I¡¯m good in terms of money right now anyway. If it comes down to it we (my NPCs and I) can go back to the old ways of robbing banks, adventurers, and countries. That¡¯s not needed though with the mines, and forests in our control, and the great trade deals we were able to get for the goods in those areas. That reminds me we have to deal with Violet Wood¡¯s ownership at some point, and we use it as a buffer to sell our products, but it could become dangerous. Maybe I can let the NPCs deal with it, they already deal with most of the business stuff. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ The estate was protected by stone walls. The front gates were made of steel plates, which completely closed off the outside world from the estate. There were two guards, one on each side of the gate, they both held a spear. Private guards that wore the crest of the sorcerer they were serving; a green dragon''s head. "Halt! State your purpose." "My name''s William Shipudan, and I''m here to get this book appraised." They saw the book, and one of the guards held out his hand, for me to hand it to him. "Can I see the Core Sorcerer first, this book might be very expensive. I can''t just hand it out to anyone." "We just want to check if you have anything hidden." What would I hide within the book? "Fine, don''t damage it." They took the book and flipped through it and gave it back. "We''ll have to check your person as well." What the fuck. "Fine." They patted me down first, and told me to wait while one of them went inside to ask permission. After a few minutes he came back, and they let me inside. The maids offered some tea, and I accepted even though I just had some before coming here. I was flipping through the pages, trying not to drink too much of the tea. The maids left the room for some reason, so I took the opportunity to check my map. They wouldn''t be able to see even if they were beside me, but they might notice me acting strange. According to the blueprint, there''s a secret hallway between this room and the next room to my right. It should be about 3 ft. wide, and this hallway should lead to some underground passage. But the first problem is getting into this hallway. I took another sip of the tea, and the maid returned with some snacks along with the Core Sorcerer. He wore a dark green robe, with strange designs of gold on his sleeves and around the edges of his robe. "Core Sorcerer Danial, it''s an honor to meet you." I said with a fake laughish-smile that I was able to perform by thinking of a funny monkey. "Thanks." He said shaking my hand, and took a seat. "I he- ber* Excuse me," he burped into his mouth while covering it with his fist, "I heard that you had a spell book for me to appraise." Sounding arrogant and self-important, he took the book away from me. He seemed like a serious man none the less, and looked over the book very closely. His wrinkles deepened the more pages he flipped, his yellowish eyes widened, as he brushed his gray hair to the side. He closed the book to stare at the title once more, and turned to me to give a look that said ''who are you?'' Then he turned to the maids and said: "All of you out." "Master Danial?" The maids seemed confused more by his look, than by his words. That didn''t seem to get through to him as he shouted: "All of you OUT! Out! Out!" The man seemed to have turned insane almost instantaneously. It almost made me get up and leave. The maids rushed out, a bit afraid. He turned his gaze to me. "You have the 1st volume. You know what you hold don''t you? This is an advanced spell book. You must have hired other wizards or sorcerers to look at this before, so you must know this is an advanced spell book." He got up and walked back and forth repeating the phrase. "So you know." Over and over again, then he stopped and turned to me like a detective pointing out the criminal''s flaw. "But how much do you know?" What''s surprising is you sorcerer. You know this is the first volume, did you discern it just now or do you have insider info. This is a very rare book with only 40 others like it; I had to spend a lot of time just to find 3. In the game to cast a spell you need to memorize the sequence of mind-notes, while making sure to also time the notes correctly. For casting fireball you need to mind-note Z once within a second, for waterball you need to note Z twice within a second, and so on. As the spell becomes more powerful, the sequencing and timing become harder to memorize and preform. But this book negates all that, and allows you to use any of the spells within it without memorizing anything; as long as you have the amount of mana needed for the spells. This has all changed now though, even casting spells normally feels natural. When I hold this book it''s even easier; information about all the spells in the book appear in my head, and I can simply choose. I should say something, it''ll only look weirder the longer I wait. "I did know this is an advanced spell book. The guards might not have introduced me well, so let me say it again; I am William Shipudan and I''m a collector of rare things. This is a book I got a few months ago from an old friend; he left without giving me too much information. And it''s hard to get in touch with him if he doesn''t want to. So I came to an expert in magic to understand a bit more. I usually ask someone else for this kind of stuff, but he has passed away recently." I covered all my bases right. I should write down all my lies, so I don''t forget. "I see." He looked a bit doubtful, well if he didn''t buy it I''ll just have to kidnap him and torture him till he tells me everything I want. Before that there is something I want to clear up. "From how you said I have volume 1; can I assume you have other volumes." He sounded like he knew there were other volumes; it won¡¯t be that unusual to have some items from the game world here. From his level alone he doesn¡¯t seem like a player, but could he have a friend who''s a player or something. "Um. No, I have volume 19; it¡¯s something passed down from master to student since ancient times. It''s said that our great-great-great-great-master was able to use the spells." He seemed to have calmed down a bit having absorbed the information. "Is it fine if I keep this for a few days?" He said flipping through the book again. "Or maybe you''re willing to sell it, if you are, I can pay twice the market price." What would be the market price for something that can''t even be used by anyone form this world. "No, it''s not for sale, but... if you''re willing to sell yours I can offer the same." "HAHAHAHAHAHA!" The old man had a field day with that one, he was laughing like a madman. Finally he stopped to rub his eyes. "It really is too valuable to sell, isn''t it? Do you mind reminding me of your name again?" "William Shipudan." "William then; can I give it a once over?" This is going better than planned, now I just need to tell him sure if I can stay the night here. He put the book down, and closed it; before I could answer he gave me this stare. That laugh completely dissolved with his wrinkled face. His words were spoken with a very serious tone. "I can understand why you wouldn''t want to sell this... You said you were a collector yes?" I nodded my head. "Then can I ask if you have any other items that might be as rare as this book?" "Well some. Yes, you could consider them as rare as this, but it''s hard to compare." "Hum. Hum." He said nodding his head. "I understand." He looked over his shoulder, at the door, and then straight into my eyes. "Do you like this country? Especially how it is right now?" He was looking at my face very carefully to read my expression; he nervously and impatiently played with his finger. He brought his ugly face closer, it was just old but those liver spots on the face didn''t help. "It''s okay I suppose." I wasn''t sure how to answer, so I answered in a neutral way; what was I supposed to say about this country. "Where are you from?" He fired off his next question immediately as I finished answering the previous. It was a complicated question, answering one country or another would be bad if he decided to look into it. If he asks for an address I''ll be screwed. "I don''t live in a single country, I travel around quite a bit, and I''m afraid I can''t tell you where I keep my collection. If people were to find out it''ll be subject to thieves." He seemed a bit disappointed with the answer, but soon relaxed. "Haa~ No no please don''t get the wrong idea. Okay, how about this¡­ The country you were born in..." He twisted his neck to get a quick look at the door, and getting real close he whispered: "Do they still have slaves?" Most human countries outside of this one had slaves. "Yes, of course." This is the only country in the continent that doesn''t have slaves. The Dwarf country has beastman slaves, Kingdom of Nolybab has everything other than humans as slaves, and beastman nation has everything other than beastman as slaves. It''s the natural thing in this world. Even this country only has a year history of no slaves. "Half-elfs, and bestman are slaves right?" There was strong hatred in those words. "Yes, that''s right." "I have to pay them now, all my slaves left, and now to get service I have to pay them; my hard earned money." Now that I think about it, none of your maids had any marks, there weren''t any elves or other races either. I get it, this guy''s a racist. If he has to pay, better humans than demi-humans is probably his logic. I understand his thinking but... If you don¡¯t like it so much, why don¡¯t you leave? But that would make me seem like I''m against him. "Why don''t you move?" "This was just a small town before I came here. I knew the previous king, his father, and his father¡¯s father. I helped make this country what it is today. I can''t and won''t abandon everything I created." He was taking a gamble with this. It¡¯s clear he''s hoping I''m on his side, but he can''t fully trust me; that''s understandable. He repeatedly checked the door to see if someone was going to come in, or maybe he''s nervous someone might be listening. They might all be humans he hired, but he probably can''t trust all of them either. How do I persuade him to trust me though? "Do you like this new king who wants humans and beasts to eat at the same table? Never in my 532 years have I ever seen anything like it. You''re a youngster to me William, and youngsters these days are a bit... William do you approve of this, this country the Red King has created?" I have decided old man, I''m going to kill you one day soon. You''ve lived too long. Using magic to prolong your life has left you a relic in the progress of time, but for now I''ll play along. "Well I can''t say I approve, but when you''re in a foreign country you must respect its laws. But if you ask me honestly..." I looked at the door just like he did, a fake gesture for him and a good joke for me. "It''s disgusting." I finished my sentence with the face to match what I said, with the right amount of anger to give it that spice. "Yes!" The old man barked, overjoyed and excited he slides the book back to me and leans back into his seat. "Yes. It''s ¡®disgusting¡¯, no other word describes it better. It''s the king... There are a lot like us who agree, but we can''t make a move right now. I want your help William, lend me anything that can help us get close to defeating the-" He stopped in the middle of his sentence to look at the door again. "We should talk somewhere more private about these matters." I nodded to his suggestion. This might work out for me. The player sounds like a good guy, so he won''t like what I''m doing; or at least what I''m trying to do. Taking care of him would eliminate a possible threat to my future. I didn''t like Player Killing in the game, because adventuring was more fun and I wasn''t really good at it. Now that my goals have changed I''ll have to PK sooner or later. He gave me the book back though, does this mean he wants to meet up some other time. "I thought you wanted to analyze the book." "Ah~ Yes I do, but first I thought I''ll invite you for some lunch." It was noon before I noticed, did I spend too much time in the cafe? Or were we talking for that long? "It''s already lunch, I didn''t notice, eating all these biscuits." "Too much sugar at your age isn''t good William." It feels strange being lectured in this old man form, by a much older man, talking to you like if you''re a kid. "True..." He opened the door while I was thinking pointless thoughts, and there were the maids waiting at his beck and call. "Has lunch been prepared?" "Yes Master Danial." "Prepare a plate for one more, and change the location from the dining room to the garden. Since the weather is quite nice today." The topics varied widely, from world politics, The Omron Church, legendry figures, and of course items, powerful items. He asked me about various items I had, and curiously listened to all my answers. I tried to tell the truth as much as possible, a good lie always has a hint of truth. Then he would pitch some of his theories about what The Books of Thoth; they were the conclusions he reached after studying his own book. When I kill him I''ll make sure to take it, but currently he might be more useful as an ally. To become a puppet master of puppet masters, the first thing I need to do is know all the important mysteries in the areas I control. To think you''re a puppet master, only to find out there are strings tied to you would be the worst case scenario. You have to be wary of anything further in the shadows. Then there''s removing anyone that can appose me, that¡¯s where getting rid of the king comes in. All players will be dangerous to me, so they need to be removed if I want to succeed. But that means... "And this Golem can it be activated?" "Hmm... Yeah, I got it at a sunken ancient city but I should be able to activate it." The legendry golem is something I made using my Craftsman of Taboo levels, he got very interested at the mention of it beating an army of 100,000 in the legends. The old man was deep in thought, rubbing his beard. Telling him that it can take on an army of 100,000 might have been a bad idea. "Do you think it can take on the Red King?" Can it? It''s a level 600 golem I created, it''s stronger than me... it depends on the player''s level. "Maybe¡­ I''ll have to check." "And how can you check?" "Ah~" How can I check, well I can use my God''s Eye skill, but can''t tell you that. "I-I have an item that can check a person''s strength?" "Like the magic card adventures use?" "No~ this gives a better reading of the person¡¯s level... not just the mana amount. It''s called Inspector." I deserve at least a pat in the back for making that up on the spot. "I see... Where are you staying William, you said you just arrived in town yesterday." "I''m staying at the Nile." "Oh that''s a nice place... How would you like to stay here for the night? I still haven''t looked over the book, and you can be much more at calm staying here. You especially won''t have to deal with those Beastman type here, so what do you say." This guy really makes everything easy for me. "Sure, I''d love to." Stage one complete, now I gotta find that secret entrance. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ After the maid closed the door, I jumped on the bed; completely unfit action for an old man. The dinner was nice here too, there must be a level 10 cook working here. The sorcerer¡¯s analyzing the book; should I be worried. Naa~ He won''t even be able to cast the basic spells in that book, let alone the advanced spells. All he has is level 10 in sorcery. More importantly, I should figure out a way to get into the hidden rooms. The map records everywhere I''ve gone, and it also shows the in-game base, Data-House, as a green home symbol. I opened it up and zoomed into where I''m right now. The dark areas in the map formed a proper structure. That¡¯s the areas I hadn¡¯t been to within the estate, and they¡¯re probably the hidden rooms within the walls. "I''ll wait till everyone''s asleep and then look around." If the ninjas haven''t found it... this is going to be tough. While I was lying in bed, watching the moon rise higher. Browsing through the map for the 100th time; the door clicked open. The maids should have knocked. I quickly closed the map, and sat up. It was the sorcerer holding a 3 branch candlestick. "Good you''re up." He said, his eyes reflecting the candle light, his body still in the shadow, with only the right part of his face painted by the candle light. He slid in the door, and slowly closed it, careful not to make a sound. I got off the bed, and he came next to me, almost shoving the candle in my face. He grabbed my shoulder without warning. "[Sorcery: Spatial-shift]" Everything turned black, and the candles instantly flickered out, like a large breeze had just run through, but nothing was felt. "[Sorcery: Fire]" The three candles lit again with a spark, like a lighter. Then torches beside us lit in the same way, going down a hall, incrementing one after another. Puf*puf*puf* down the narrow passage. I don''t think I¡¯m in Kansas anymore. I had the sudden urge to open up the map and check where I am. My suspicions were confirmed by the sorcerer himself. "This is a secret dimension only I know of, I only invite those I trust William." He leaned in real close and looked into my eyes. "I trust you William." There was some hidden undertone there, a clear hidden undertone. "Now come." He led the way further down. If my guess is correct, this is the hidden areas within the estate. He teleported in here without showing me the entrance, is that a way to make sure I won''t be able to return here. I have the map so I can return here whenever I want easily. Maybe he does this with everyone, the people here wouldn''t even know where this is, and he even said this is another dimension, a clear lie. Maybe it doesn''t have an entrance, or it''s sealed off and only the sorcerer can get in by knowing its location. Since if you don''t know the location, you can''t teleport to it¡­ I''m an idiot, of course that''s why the ninjas couldn''t find an entrance, because there isn''t one. I should have just allowed them to break down the wall. I''m an idiot. He led me downstairs, an underground estate. It''s quite large and well built. Unlike the narrow passages between the walls, these hallways were well spaced. He led me to a very well designed and elegant ebony doors. He pushed the doors open, and placed the candlestick to a side table. It was a large office, with bookshelves on both sides, which were fully completed with books. Even plain books are a rarity in this world, so you can imagine his wealth. "Your book is authentic, as I thought. Even the most basic spells in this use too much mana for it to be useful, just like this one." He held up two grimoires with a similar cover. That must be his, volume 19. It''s only useless to a 3rd rate magician like you; I can use it just fine. Well not some of the advanced spells, but none the less I can use most of the book. "I''m going to analyze these spells a little bit more. How long will you be staying?" Now that I''ve figured out how to get in here, I''d like to leave tomorrow. "I''m thinking of returning to my hotel tomorrow." "What!? Already." "Ah~ yes, I decided to help you. And I remembered I left my Lithawk alone. I''ll go back and send a message to bring my Inspector." "I see..." "You can keep the book till the next time we meet. I trust you as well." I''m not good with fake smiles, hope I''m doing it right. "Oh~ that¡¯s great. When can we meet up again? ¡­ How about the 3rd?" "Sure." "William I''m very glad to have met you, I just wanted you as an ally, but if you can really help¡­ I have a good feeling about this." Alright asshole. "Thank you." "Alright! I''ll try teaching you a bit of this. You aren''t a sorcerer right?" "No." I have a better class than shitty sorcerer, but can''t say that, can I? "Ha ha ha... I didn''t think so." What''s with the laugh asshole? Then he went on to explain the spells in the books. Basic stuff I already know being explained to me with a patronizing attitude is the best. Some of the stuff he said was wrong too. The next day I went back to my hotel and teleported back to my Cave. Now I need to figure out how to show up on the 3rd with a made up item called Inspector. And I should probably get a Lithawk too; in case he shows up at the hotel. If this all goes well I''ll be able to kill the player incognito, and blame it on the sorcerer. The other players that might be hiding somewhere might notice something is up though. That¡¯s too many mights, one thing at a time. Baby steps Verra. Baby steps. Chapter 2: Lukluk "Didi I think we lost them for good." One of the rear guards came to report. In the dead of night they finally seemed to have made it to the promise-land. For 2 years they struggled. They ran form the Dwarves when their village was attacked, and then it was a constant run. One good thing came from all of this, they stopped fighting amongst themselves. All the tribes united, but they were still no match for the dwarves, and all they could do was run. So they ran, together through the forest Afana. There was no time to rest; the forest was a place only the strong survived. Filled with monsters, and beasts, it was not a place they could survive in. All they could do was move forward, through the forest in hopes of a safe haven. Didi''s father, the old chief told the people of a promise-land beyond the forest. A safe haven where the monsters never attacked, where the wild berries grew plentifully, with plenty of large Boak trees to build their tree-houses. Holding on to this single hope, the people moved forward. Everyone knew this was a lie, her father had told the people what they needed to hear, but they hoped none the less. And it seems their prayers have been answered, they have reached a land just as her father described. A sense of relief and confusion filled her to her core. "We''ll set up camp here. Don''t relax, take turns keeping watch." She ordered the men waiting in front of her. After they went to work on her order, she took a deep sigh and collapsed to the ground. The monsters that chased them for the last two days seemed to have stopped when they reached this Promised Land. This area seems to be uninhabited by beasts or intelligent beings. There is also many herbs, fruits, nuts and plants growing plentifully here. It would be great if we can finally settle down... Any further north and they¡¯ll hit the base of the mountain range. The Dwarves are expanding their territory, thus many of the forest creatures of the west are either being enslaved or massacred. These Lukluks escaped their cruel fate and had traveled many miles east to reach this land. The mountains would not suit their life style of farming berries and living in large trees. The Zegalian Mountains are also known for its Dragon tribes; they can only seek the life of a slave there. To the east are the human settlements. After she had her little rest, she hoisted herself up. Reaching the people setting up the camps, she clapped her hands to get their attention. These were the type of camps they had built for the last 2 years. Knowing full well they can''t stick around in one place for too long, the people have developed new ways of setting tents that could be abandoned on the fly without a second thought. Their hopes of building a new home seemed a distant dream only a day ago, and maybe¡­ it is still too early to conclude otherwise. To them, she spoke. It was a bit too early to say these words she thought, but she''s been yearning to say these words since they abandoned their homes 2 years ago. "My father spoke of a Promised Land 2 years ago when the Dwarves attacked, and so we fled to the forest with hearts filled with hope. Into the forest, deeper and further than we had ever traveled since our ancestors came to Iacta on the Turtle Spirit. Everyone, the time for running is over! We will be building our new homes here! Don''t put up those tents Tutu, build the ones you used to build. I want to see those creative and weird things you called your home. Our new life starts now and here!" The people looked to her dumbfounded, as if she had told them she ate the moon. Then it irrupted. "OOEEEE!" Cheering came from the people who heard her. So far they had survived, today they live. They weren''t the strongest creatures in this world, so a safe place was lucky to say the least. While everyone else was setting up camp she walked around a bit, and enjoyed the scenery. The Lukluk¡¯s had amazing eyesight even in the dark. The great Zegalian Mountain to the north of them looked amazing. She thought of what could be beyond it; none had crossed the mountains, and come back to tell about it. Monsters they could not imagine lived beyond it. She took a seat on the bended root of a tree, and looked up. The starry sky covered the world in its twinkle. "How small we are to the sprits.¡± The gentle wind freshened her spirits. ¡°Finally after 2 years of running we can live again Dad." In a quiet whisper she let the wind carry her thoughts away. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought of her late father, and the hardships they went through in the Dwarves¡¯ hands. She felt a bit lonely mulling through all these memories under the twinkle of the stars. She went back to the campsite, where everyone had started drinking in celebration. They talked about the great city that will be built. A much larger and grander city than the little tribes they left behind. In her celebration she even pulled over Juju the architect with a broad smile. "You know that weird plan you drew up, we''re going to build it." ¡°Aaa~ Really!?¡± ¡°Yeah, really.¡± Everyone drank grape-berry juice till they felt like puking, and some kept drinking even after that. This was the most fun they''ve had in years. But this celebration and joy didn¡¯t last long. When morning came they found themselves surrounded by all kinds of creatures, they even saw an undead skeleton among them. They soon realized all their routes of escape was cut off. The undead wearing a general uniform told them to stay put, and await their judgment from the Master. "All we can do is wait and see what the enemy wants of us." Didi said as her optimism drained away. Is it our destiny to be slaves, or to reach extinction? Is there nothing else for us in this world? To be enslaved, that''s the only option the strong ever gives. Some of the Lukluk people had already been enslaved by the dwarves, she hoped to one day rescue them, but it seems like that day will never come. ??? There was still a week to go before the 3rd, so I was taking it easy. I was sleeping when a knock came from the door. "Wait a minute." I turned on the mana lights, and struggled to get off the bed. "Master Verra we need your guidance." Sweet Rosey, can''t you see I''m tired and sleepy. I spent the last week just between the lab at Data-House and just chilling in this Cave. Amazing things are happening at the lab. There are NPCs I assigned to building a car, and to creating the internet. There should be plenty of books about everything in the library, so hopefully they can get it done, though we don''t have fossil fuels. Then again maybe that¡¯s for the best. I got dressed and opened the door, and there was Rosey in her guard uniform. She was originally one of the guards of Otnorot city, but I switched her to my assistant after coming here. A lot of NPCs were guards, because strong or weak the NPCs cost the same, and I ended up making a lot of level 100 NPCs when I built the base. The strongest NPCs I have are level 350, or 351 now. I always made a new batch of NPCs when my levels increased by 50, though there were some exceptions. I was planning of making more when I reached level 400 but it¡¯s too late now. I don''t know how to without the CAD tools available in the game. There¡¯s one good news, the NPCs can gain levels, before in the game they couldn''t but now they can. When I passed around the Unholy Grail; they all gained 1 level in Deathless, so now all my NPCs are immortal - at least in terms of age. That''s the problem with the Deathless class, you''re immortal from level 1 but not youthful; I''ll need to figure out how to get them the 2nd level somehow. In the game all the immortal classes ever did was increase your HP, and MP. All that backstory crap was just that, crap. "Rosey what is it? So early in the morning." "There seems to invaders within our forest Afana." "Invaders!?" "We captured all of them Master Verra. It seems they were trying to steal the Shigley herb." That herb¡¯s really useful for recovery potions. "Is that so? Where are they form?" "We''re not sure Master Verra, they might be form the south or west." "You don''t know then." "We''re terribly sorry Master Verra. Should I send word to interrogate them?" "It''s fine, there''s no need for that. Let''s go meet these prisoners."You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. I told them to detain anyone that came into our forests without permission, and only attack in self-defense. Who would be stupid enough to invade our forests? It must be that they don''t know about our rule; then it''s my fault for keeping it a secret. It couldn''t be helped, no good puppet master lets people know he rules the world, or that he even exists. This would all be so much easier if I had mind control powers. "Rosey let''s have some coffee first." I''m nothing without my morning coffee. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ I poured myself some coffee while I tried to remember where the Afana forest was. We took control of almost everything around the mountain range. There is the forest to the north of the mountain range, and to the south. I went out into the balcony with my cup of coffee. The view is great from the 4th floor of the Cave, it directly overlooks the northern forest. "Clarify again where they are?" They shouldn''t be too tough if the level 100s could capture them. The highest level I¡¯ve seen in this world was 60, and that was a dragon. The highest level on a human was 53. Most races maxed out their race class, and was at least level 10 by the time they were adults, but any other classes they had were barely level 5; making the average level around 15. Matter of fact I noticed the woman usually have higher levels, racking up points in cooking, knitting, and all those everyday tasks. But they don¡¯t increase their stats by much, and they¡¯re practically useless in a fight. "The other side of the mountain Sir." "I see¡­ Yeah this side has too many monsters for them I suppose." The monsters on this side reach around level 40, but like the difference between beastman and humans, the stats were just too different. My cave was built on the side of the mountain with a lot of monsters and away from human eyes. There is a human owned estate close to the mountain, it''s really a village of works that work for the company Violet Wood. There is a small Dwarf Kingdom far to the west, there are elves in this continent, but apparently from the Intel we gathered, they¡¯re from another continent called Arbol. They have no nation of their own in this continent. I still haven''t launched a full on investigation into other continents yet, but almost everything in this continent is well recorded. Including the islands to the north. The northern forest area is only occupied by monsters, and now us. No one but us can deal with the monsters here. So it''s pretty much under our command. Since the monsters around this side of the mountain keep people away, no one seems to have noticed. And the other side, on paper it''s owned by Violet Wood, but the owner is just a figure head for our trading deals. Well they didn''t own the whole forest before, only had control of a small area before we came in and took over, so they should be thankful. But it''s understandable if he''s not; I killed his father and we''re pretty much holding his wife and kid hostage. I do need to think of a way to replace him with someone that isn''t just obedient because of fear. "Did you tell the invaders my name?" "No, Master Verra. We know how much you like your privacy." "I see. That¡¯s good." Who should I appear as, for these people, I can''t be the old man because I am using him for that plan. Maybe the ''Big bold guy with scars all over his head'', ''cool young guy with cool hair'' is pretty good too... You only have 7 forms you need to be careful how you use them. I''ll go with the werewolf form, it''s not every day I get to use that one. I should use that form more with strange fantasy creatures. Plus the forest is owned by Violet Wood, and when I met Evals I was in the werewolf form. So I''ll be the werewolf again, in case these creatures end up meeting the people working for the company. "Alright, I''ll be going as Yug Ynapmoc please prepare my clothing." We were able to prepare everything, and get there before the sun reached the center of the sky. I brought a few escorts along because of Rosey''s nagging. "So you''ve chosen to go as the ugly dog instead of the messy haired, dead eyed human today, Master Verra." What!? I-i-is the werewolf form that ugly, and why does everyone say that about my character design. I thought the messy hair was kind of charming-ish, in an ¡®I don''t care kind of way¡¯, and I''m too lazy to actually fix it. Is it Skullgen''s settings that make him say awful things to me, why would I make settings like that? "Hm~ cough* yeah... Where are they, the invaders?" Skullgen''s the commander of these troops assigned to defend this forest. "They set up camp over there." He pointed west, deeper into the forest. "We have them surrounded Master Verra. Under my watch they won''t be going anywhere. Completely locked in. A cage made of my army. Nowhere to run. All they can do is stay put. There will be no escape for them. Their army is flimsical and flaccid. It would be absolute suicide to try and escape. Fools completely trapped in a web I set up. No conceivable wa-" "Alright I get it. Good job Skullgen. I''ll take it from here, just lead me to their camp." He can go on forever if you let him. "Yes! Please allow me. Allow me to lead. This way. This way is the shortest. The camp is only a few feet away. Here we are, this is the camp. They¡¯re all trapped in there. Right over there-" ¡°Alright! Where¡¯s their leader.¡± I saw many little huts that were too small for humans to fit in, in front of me. "We have their leader over here Master Verra. Waiting for her judgment. Sitting in silence. We separated her from the rest. She''s in their alone, waiting. With nothing to-" "Alright I get it Skullgen. I''ll go talk to her." There was a large wooden house clearly setup by the NPCs. Which could''ve only been done this quickly with intermediate magic, or higher. When I entered the wooden house, I saw a cute plush toy. This creature, a Lukluk, had round cheeks, roundish hands like a baby Bear cub and round bodies. Its eyes were like a baby¡¯s, the proportion to its head was incorrect, but cute. Its serious expression turned grimmer at the sight of a large werewolf, which made it look even fluffier; I couldn''t help but smile. I took the seat across it. I noticed that its seat had a cushion. Normal chairs were just too large for the thing, it couldn¡¯t reach the table sitting on them, thus the cushion. The NPCs must have given it the cushion. "Master Yug Ynapmoc the owner of these forests, has kindly taken the time to meet you fools, the Lukluk''s, who had unlawfully invaded his forest." The Lukluk seemed afraid, and wanted to interrupt the introduction. I showed my hand before Skullgen could repeat his introduction again. "So you are the leader of the people I saw at the campsite.¡± I only caught a few glimpses of them. Seeing one up close is¡­ ¡°My subordinate here told me your people tried to steal the Shigley herb. Now you must understand that is a crime against me, so how do you plan to compensate?" "Master Yug Ynapmoc I would like to first say it''s a great honor to meet you. I am Didi and as you already mentioned, I am the leader of the Lukluks. But let me please explain! We are not thieves. And we would surely not try to invade your land master Yug Ynapmoc." She looked around at the guards around me, their gears alone would intimidate anyone in this world. "We are refuges escaping from our home. And we mistook this land to be free territory, but we will leave immediately. We humbly ask for your pardons." She''s sounds honest. I didn''t think you were invaders or thieves either, but now that I¡¯ve already asked for compensations¡­ you have to pay up something. I can''t just let you leave after I said all that. Subjugation will cause the same problem we have with the Dragons. "Where will you go?" If you''re refuges who are on the run, in this world you must have no place to go. This might be the first time I can get some workers. The goblins were stupid and kept opposing until I killed enough of them that they ran away. The monsters had no intelligence. The dragons that lived previously on the mountain had to be subjugated, since I can''t let people who know the Cave¡¯s location just fly around. To think they¡¯re already having secret meetings; they¡¯ll have to be killed some time soon. These things in front of me could be hired as workers, if they are intelligent enough. But I understand why they would want to leave after finding out I own this place. Didi was mulling over the question with a saddened expression. "We don''t have a home right now, but we hope to find a place to settle down further east." "I own the entire forest you know. That''s why the goblins moved to the plains." Didi got surprised and her wide eyes bulged even more, but she couldn¡¯t say anything. "Will you go to the other side of the mountain?" I own that too but no reason to tell you that. Didi shuddered with that one. "Is it that fun to tease us?" Yeah it would be too hard for a race with your level to enter that place. "Then how about you work for me?" That look is adorable. She seems so confused. "Since you don''t have a home, how about you live here and work for me. In a sense you''ll be paying tax to live within my property, all you''ll have to do is gather surrounding herbs and the like when the season is right. Most of this forest isn''t worked on anyway, and just goes unpicked. You can use the basic resources here and live here, but you''ll have to pay a certain amount to me each year." She thought over my proposal. I thought it was a no-brainer, you get a home, and I get a few workers. "What you say makes sense, is it fine if I talk to my people before we decide." "Sure, no problem. How much time do you need?" "Just a few hours. 1 hour, that''ll be all we need." "Humm... Okay. I''ll wait here then." After Didi left, I let Rosey know that if they agree I''ll be putting her in charge of the new village. ¡°You should help them build the village. You did a great job with the Cave, so I think you¡¯ll be perfect for this. Make sure you keep track of how much raw goods they need, and try to find an appropriate tax for them based on the amount of workers and how much they can harvest." "Understood, Master Verra. I''ll make you proud." You always make me proud Rosey. If they agree my job will be done, I''ll leave them here to do whatever they want and later if useful and talented individuals are among them I''ll appoint them to better suited work. Didi came back within 30 minutes and accepted my deal. I told her to discuss everything with Rosey. I assigned a few guards to protect them, and help around with anything they needed. Also told Rosey to secretly observe each one of them, and send me a report. "The report doesn¡¯t need to be long, just their general personalities and so forth, also keep track of their breeding habits." "Understood, Master Verra." She whispered back to me. With that I went back to my Cave. For any of this to show results it¡¯s going to take a few years, it¡¯s good I''m immortal. Then I went to Data-House to check up on how the progress for the car was going. I didn''t want to use the mana crystals in the treasury, so we were currently trying to find a new fuel source. Mana crystals existed in this world, but they were rare, and I only saw them in items. I haven¡¯t found any mana crystal mines. There¡¯s one in the kingdom of Nolybab. I can''t overthrow a whole country without raising a few eye brows, so new fuel sources are being tested. Animal fats, vegetation oils and so forth. The fuel is the main setback for the engine, because the other parts can be somewhat mimicked using magic craftsmanship. The steering is coming along pretty well, though it''s powered by human mana through the steering wheel. It''s fine for now, but it''s no good long term. The type of engine on earth isn''t even needed if we use mana. That¡¯s why I rather not use mana all together; if I was going to use mana a simple flight spell would be a lot cheaper in terms of mana cost. Well internet is facing similar problems, without electricity and a way to build semiconductors it''s impossible. For now I''m thinking of building a power plant near the northern waterfall. Use hydraulic energy, and then use that as power source for the rest of my R&D. You have to create light bulbs before you can get to computers. Before in the game, running through mana crystals were fine, but now using the labs had to be limited. Thankfully the city on the first floor isn''t run that way, instead everything was built using special real world cash items. Though they aren''t replaceable, they don''t run out of energy, there is literally a sky, sun and weather generated due to the game-program that still seems to work even after the game became reality. I had to pay a stupid amount when it was a game but now that it''s real, I''m getting my money''s worth. I was using the magic labs for building magic robot suits and other crazy stuff. Turning what was mostly a magic lab into an actual scientific laboratory has been a challenge. There are areas called chemistry department, physics department and etc. But they were just there for artistic reasons till a year ago. I spent the next day in an expedition to find a good spot to build the future power plant. Using the iron mines and ferromagnetism books we have, we can hopefully make enough magnets; it¡¯s already succeeded with small scale tests. I pretty much wasted the rest of my time coming up with measurements and locations for the future power plant with the NPCs who have architectural and engineering classes. Coming up with plans on how to build it and so forth wasted a lot of time but we couldn¡¯t reach any conclusions, but they seemed to be working really hard on it. They''ll have more reports for me to read in no time. Chapter 3: Elizabeth On the 3rd I went back to the Core Sorcerer''s estate, and was greeted as a guest. There was none of the hassle I had to go through the first time I came here. The maid led me to a private room, and there was Danial and also two other old men. One a bit fat, just the belly bulging out, which tented his loose clothing. The other man is quite muscular, probably a former adventurer. "William it''s great to see you again. I was just telling them about you, they''re- Maid you may leave." "You''re refreshments?" "We''ll call for them later." After the maid left, he gestured me to a seat across his, and introduced everyone. "These are my close friends. This is Zejimal Draeb," Danial patted the adventurer looking man''s shoulder, "and this is Lagose Makotie." Haven''t I heard his name somewhere before. "Hello, William I heard a lot about you. It''s great to finally meet you." The fat man, Lagose, shook my hands while the adventurer old man was staring at me with suspicion. "So can we see this golem? Hmm... And what was the other item?" Zejimal sounded very suspicious of my abilities and usefulness. "Well the Golem¡¯s undergoing shipment right now, from what I heard from my subordinates. As for the Inspector, here it is." I took out a pair of plain reading glasses, but it¡¯s cursed for anyone else who would try to wear it, and will cause nausea and draining of HP. "But I''m not sure if any of you can wear it, because only very few people seem to be able to use it." That was also a lie; only I can use it. It''s simply easier to explain it as unique magic than to come up with some other lie. "I had to go through a lot of trouble to be able to use it... had to meet a shaman... it''s a story for another time." I am hoping that''s enough if they asked more I would have a hard time coming up with an answer. I didn''t prepare for today at all, I am fully relying on my improvisation skills for this. Danial still wanted to try it on, so I gave it to him. He appraised it with his magic. "This just says it''s cursed." Of course that''s what it would say, because it¡¯s just a cursed pair of glasses. "In a sense it''s the curse that allows one to see the level. But I really wouldn''t recommend you try it." He asked me if I could put it on and sure enough I showed him I can. Then he ignored my warning and put it on himself. The moment he put it on he started getting nauseas and within a few seconds he puked all over the table. "What!? What''s wrong with this?" He said throwing it back at me. "Like I said not everyone can use it." "So with that you can tell someone¡¯s level? Try it on me." Zejimal said looking sternly at me. I put on the glasses and activated my God''s Eye skill, and instantly his entire character details became clear. Level 51 that''s pretty good, for this world, I look around and Danial is 45 and the fat man is 18, well better than a regular farmer but even his human levels were dwindling. In this world, human levels decrease as you grow older. The people born here reach the highest level, level 10 after puberty. There were two ways you could die in this world; by running out of HP, or having your race levels reach 0. "Level 51." Zejimal seemed a bit surprised, at my evaluation of his level. "That should be right. Hmm¡­ That makes sense." He seemed quite happy by the results. Since only magician levels could be measured by the adventurer''s guild, I bet he was underestimated. "But shouldn''t we clean this up." Everyone was paying attention to the new item and didn''t seem to mind the puke that was leaking down the table. "Oh- yes, we should do that. Maid! ..." Danial made the maids clean up the mess and we went to the garden to talk some more. "I heard of the rare items you have." The fat man Lagose said, "I truly was surprised when Danial told me about it. To think you had dragon skin." We talked about a lot of things last time, and I must have let it slip. I know it''s pretty rare in this world but being a great collector, which was my current persona, I had to at least have some dragon skin. But one after another, every item I mentioned last time was brought up, asking for even more detail. I tried not to lie, and the materials aren¡¯t a lie; the hard part is coming up with feasible stories about how I got them. I kept the stories as close to the quests I did in the game. It was hard doing that without revealing the game, or my strength. "Why are you helping us William, what''s in it for you? If I may be frank." Lagose asked, and everyone went silent awaiting my answer. I want to kill the player that might oppose me one day, it¡¯s a win-win situation for us. If you guys fail, I can disappear without a trace; is the real answer¡­ "It¡¯s best not to discuss that before I know the king¡¯s strength. But I can tell you now that I am a very rich man and money doesn''t interest me. Sometimes having someone owe you a favor is more valuable, than anything else. So let¡¯s just say I''ll come asking a favor one day." The two had wry smiles on their faces. "Sounds interesting." Danial was very amused by the idea, and we agreed on it with a hand shake. "There¡¯s another thing; I would like to keep the golem a secret, I would have thieves coming after me, if they know of me. You understand." "I¡¯ve been wondering why I never heard of you, so it¡¯s been a deliberate act. I understand, we''ll keep your secret." Danial said looking at both his friends, and both of them agreed with him, nodding their heads. I would have been just fine with killing the player incognito, but having him owe me a few favors is good too. I''ll take some land as well, they can''t refuse if I''m pretty much making them the kings. ¡°So do you think there is any way to get me close enough to use this thing?¡± ¡°We¡¯re all invited to the castle for the party, this 6th, I¡¯m sure I can bring you along.¡± ¡°The 6th?¡± Did I miss something here? ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Lagose asked, looking at me like if I¡¯ve committed some crime. ¡°He¡¯s just came in a week ago, it¡¯s understandable he doesn¡¯t know.¡± The sorcerer came to my defense. ¡°But he¡¯s been here for a week, and everyone¡¯s talking about it. What, did he lock himself in his room all week?¡± This Lagose seems to be a very uptight man. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Was all that came out of the adventurer looking old man, Zejimal. The sorcerer is giving me a look now too. ¡°Anyway, the 6th is the anniversary for the new king¡¯s rule. Last year on the 6th, he took control of the city.¡± ¡°Ah~ I see.¡± I think I¡¯m giving everyone a bad impression of myself. It doesn¡¯t really matter if they think I¡¯m an idiot, as long as the goal is achieved. ¡°So you can get me in on the 6th to meet the king?¡± Just say ¡®yes¡¯ so I can go back to the Cave. ¡°Yeah that should be fine. If your golem can really beat the king, it¡¯ll really push our plans up.¡± So they were already planning. ¡°Alright, so when should we meet?¡± Tell me the time and place so I can leave. "We''ll meet here around six in the evening, since the party starts around 8." "Alright, sounds good. Then I¡¯ll be off." ¡°What!? You¡¯re leaving already?¡± ¡°Well there isn¡¯t much left to talk is there?¡± What more do you want? ¡°You should at least stay for lunch, and I still haven¡¯t returned your book.¡± Yeah, I was going to ask for that. ¡°Alright.¡± I ended up staying for lunch and talking about even more items. Eventually noon passed, I got my book and was able to leave. ??? The new clothes her mother laid out for her made Elizabeth Teppup feel happy, concerned and then depressed. She was only 8 but she couldn¡¯t forget, she still had nightmares about the past. And this new life just felt more and more like a dream as the days went by. As a Catman who was born in this country before the Red King Tinkula, she had not experienced anything like she had in the past year. She was bred, so she never knew her real mother or father. Her mother was just the person who raised her and cared for her the most, and the person she called ''mom''. With this mother she had lived the life of a slave since she was born. The scars were still there on her naked body. She looked at her back in the mirror, twisting her neck, running through them with her fingers. She didn''t know why she got them, just how. She doesn''t recall most of it, just the pain and her cries. Just the feeling of chocking on air, and the tears and the scary man. Just the ugly man. Just him shouting. Just her crying. The voice said not to cry, then it beat her when she did, then it beat her if she made a sound. It hurt to be quiet, and she remembered that more than the pain on her back. The cloths made her wonder if it was fine to wear it, if she deserved it, if it was allowed. She asked her mom once what it meant, what it meant to be bred. Her mother said she was too young to know. That it meant nothing. She found out though, though she never told her mother. There are a lot of people willing to tell you if you ask, a lot of people happy to tell you. Aren''t people just nice? Tears started swelling up for some reason but Elizabeth wiped them away before they could fall down her cheeks. She had a family now, her mother, Ms. Camelia and her kids, even the kids that used to fight her for food a year ago. She thought she would hate them forever, but even they became her friends. She felt happy now, but it didn''t feel good, it just made her want to cry more. Crying was never good, she never wants to cry ever again. She vowed never to cry ever again, not sure when, but she knows she promised never to cry, it was an iron clad rule. Elizabeth hurriedly dressed herself before running down. Her mother wasn''t there, she was still getting dressed. Elizabeth put on her shoes and after taking a deep breath she screamed: "Mom how long are you going to take!?" She felt weird doing it, being a normal mother and daughter. The first day they got their own house, this house, they slept together, her mother cried in her arms. It was so stupid and funny. There are those tears trying to escape her eyes again. Cried so much she made the bed sheets wet. If someone else had seen the bed sheets they would have surly misunderstood. Then she heard her mother¡¯s small voice saying: "Coming, coming. Don''t leave without meee." Finally, at top of the stairs she made her appearance. "Mom¡­ You look beautiful." The new get up took Elizabeth''s breath away. Her mom was a whole new person. "Ah! I-Isn''t it too showy?" Her entire body twitched as she spoke; that¡¯s Elizabeth''s mother. "Ms. Camelia bought it for me, I wouldn''t have worn it, but we might see her and then..." Ms. Camelia is an elf, and was a slave. Now she¡¯s the proud owner of her own bakery, where her mother worked.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "What''re you saying mom, you look beautiful. Very sexy." Elizabeth said crossing her arms and nodding exuberantly. "Hmmm! don¡¯t tease you''re mom! Let¡¯s just go." They could hear the drum beats and the sound of music from here but they had to walk into the main streets to see the special lights they had up. They were made of mana crystals, they were using them simply to light up the streets. It was a grand festival to commemorate the day Tinkula became the King of this country. There were crazy but friendly drunks, parents with kids eating too much candy, it wasn''t the time for fireworks yet but there were people already shooting them off, and many little shops giving almost everything for free. This wasn''t a festival for the country to make some money, almost everything on the street was free. It was just how the freed slaves celebrated their new freedom; their new king. Of course there were some things that had a price tag, but it was a small portion compared to the majority. Many gathered near the castle, for the king was said to give a speech before the ''real'' celebration could begin, though there were plenty celebrating already going on. Elizabeth had never seen the king, only heard of him, and so she was very excited. Trying to rush her mom to the foot of the castle balcony. But to Elizabeth it seemed her mom stopped for every person she came across, to chat. She resorted to pulling her with all her strength, just to get her moving. Finally they made it below the balcony where the king would give his speech. Elizabeth pushed and pushed through the people as she repeated to her mother. "We should go to the front. Let¡¯s go to the front. I want to see the king." Her mother finally stopped her with a smile, having had enough, and said: "This is fine." Seeing her daughter disappointed, she picked her up and placed her on her shoulders. ''You¡¯re heavy'' the mother thought. "Is this okay?" Elizabeth was concerned, she realized she was acting a bit unlike herself. That she was a bit too happy. "It''s fine. Can you see now?" "Yeah, I can see it!" The mother smiled happily not wanting to dishearten her child who barely complains or acts like a child. Elizabeth was acting a bit more her age and her mother wanted to see more of it, even if it hurt her shoulders a bit. ??? The king''s speech began and I was watching it all from my Cave. The security room is a large room designed like a lecture hall, with a slight inclination to the whole room. With many viewing windows floating around in the air. Today the NPCs have set up a few floating windows in front of me, and a soft cushy chair for me to watch everything in comfort. On it displayed the streets of Tengai, and on the biggest screen in front of me was the balcony to the Red King¡¯s castle, where he will be delivering his speech. I sent a clone with the reading glasses - Inspector - to take care of spying on the king''s level. It''s great, I get to watch everything from here. The spies - NPCs with levels in espionage - set up cameras for me to watch the whole thing from here. "When can we see inside the castle?" I asked my new assistant Stella. Stella was the replacement for Rosey, who was now helping the Lukluk people set up a village. I forgot a lot of the settings I wrote for my NPCs but I think Stella is much more suited for the assistant job. I¡¯ll admit I¡¯m mostly basing this on the secretary outfit she¡¯s wearing, and the glasses, but... Hmm¡­ "My sincerest apologies master Verra, but it seems the spies are still conducting overview for any traps or anomalies that might alert them of our involvement." "I see~, then it''s fine as long as they do it thoroughly." "Greatest thanks, master Verra." I nodded my head to show her I understand. After all I¡¯m the one always lecturing them about being careful, so I can''t be impatient now. But man~ if I knew that there was going to be a speech like this 3 days ago, I wouldn''t have even sent my clone right into the castle, just watching from the crowd was good enough. Maybe I should have allowed kidnapping a few citizens. I was the one who shut down that proposal so I can''t complain now. Maybe I¡¯m trying to make up for kidnapping all those people when I first came here, I can¡¯t get soft before it¡¯s even began. But I did kidnap too many people before; adventurers, store owners, magic casters, magic craftsman; just about every kind of person you could think of that might hold any information about this world we might need. We stole a lot and kidnapped a lot the first few months but after that I put a stop to it when most common knowledge about this world that I needed was gathered. I even made sure not to torture them, there was no need, there were NPCs that could read minds, and suck out brains. Using them it was guaranteed that there were no lies. The ones still alive after the interrogation was used as test subjects for drugs, and all kinds of things within the labs. They helped develop new drugs and even tested some drugs only found in this world. Also some diseases we created, of course also their cures, just in case I decide to spread them in the future. So I can happily say we used them to the fullest, but I didn''t want to just kidnap people if I didn''t need to. But how do I distinguish a need? Well it¡¯s too late now anyway; the plan is already in motion. ??? Inside the castle everyone waited for the king to finish the speech, while they chatted amongst themselves. I stood among them under the chandelier lights, sipping white wine, and watched the king¡¯s back as he spoke to the people from the balcony. Most listened earnestly to the kings words, but the group I was near was the exact opposite. He sent me a clone to do his job, but I don''t mind, I would have refused if it was a hard job but it wasn''t too bad. Really the only problem is if I''m found out, and if the Red King is of a higher level, he might kill me, but since I''m a clone I might disappear anytime the original wished it. In truth I would have done the same thing if I could make clones. There were a lot of food here I''ve never seen before, I wanted to be professional and avoid all of it, but I ended up eating a few treats they had around. Especially since I can¡¯t tell how my stomach might handle it, it¡¯s not a good idea, though my Infected class should nullify any poison or disease. There are people in front of me blocking my view, otherwise I could have read his level and character sheet already. "Equality! What is that idiot saying? How can we be equal to beasts?" It seems the king had said something about equality which made the sorcerer pretty mad. "Because of him even the other countries won''t deal with us anymore." He was introduced as a merchant to me, the man with the long mustache said twirling it. They were all complain about one thing or another about this king. My spies haven''t been able to get much information on him, since he seemed to hole up in this castle. Since he barely leaves the castle it could mean he doesn''t have a base of his own. That gives me hope, that he isn''t that strong. The game, Mosaic involved a lot of cash boosts; building a base, rare items, pets and all kinds of stuff. For a lot of rare classes, which were very important in Mosaic, could be said to be unattainable without cash items. With the impossible to beat bosses and creatures. Of course after a certain level you needed less and less cash items for beating opponents but there was a large obstacle in the middle stages of the game. For me who used as much money as I could to get as many rare classes and carefully built my class, this guy might be too normal of a player. That was the way to put it: normal. Soon the party started, and outside it seemed the festival started as well. Everyone was talking about one thing or another and I felt out of place, soon I was by the corner drinking by myself. Ah~ this brings back memories, bitterly smiling I drank the wine. While watching others converse I noticed an Alpaca looking maid ogling the sorcerer. She came around us so many times just to look at the sorcerer. He¡¯s 532 year old man who hates demi-humans, does she not know this? What the hell does she see in him anyway? None of your business Verra, who gives a fuck what happens to¡­ I am on a mission whatever this girl has in her mind doesn¡¯t matter. Danial eventually came to apologize for leaving me alone for so long. "Sorry about that I got caught up with some old friends. I can introduce you to the king now." "It''s alright." With that Danial guided me to the king and introduced me to him as a collector from a faraway country. "Oh- a collector you must have some interesting items." He had long spiky hair going down to his knees, it was blood red like his eyes, and he wore a red fur coat even in the middle of summer. It was also a very formal party, so he stuck out like a sore thumb. "Yes I do, it is a great honor to meet the king who freed the slaves." He became a bit more serious at the mention of slaves. "Yes, there was great injustice before I took over; I like to think I am making a country for all races to live peacefully." "That is a noble and difficult pursuit." [God Slayer: God¡¯s Eye] Activating the skill God¡¯s Eye, I was surprised by how weak he was, he was a level 302 character but his fighting power would only amount to about 170 or so. The game Mosaic had limitless leveling, at least that''s what it proposed, but that wasn''t the case. His was the worst kind of character build in my opinion, it was too spread out. The levels were all over the place about 100 in craftsmanship, 100 in martial arts and about half of those levels were split up between different weapons, and then the rest were magic classes but they were split up into healing and fighting. It was the worst kind of character build, but was also the most abundant in the game. I understand their logic to spread it out like this, it would make sense when they are really high level; at that point they would be able to do everything. But this consumes too much time, my way of leveling is nothing like this, which was to level up with some normal classes till around level 60 then only level in rare classes. But that was impossible without spending money, to clear rare quest; almost always you needed some rare item from the shop that could only be bought with real world money. So for most people too stingy to spend money I can understand why they would go the other route which was to level up to about 300 at which point you might be able to get some rare classes with your own power, but that 300 levels meant almost nothing. A 100 level craftsman might lose to a level 50 player with more fighting skills and rare classes. This is the main reason most high-level players didn''t panic at a level 427 player, because no one knew his classes. I don''t think he has accomplices or a team in this world from what we gathered a while back about this king. And it might just be that he was transported to this world around the same time as me. One other major thing I learned after coming to this world was that it was incredible difficult to level up in this world unless you wanted some shit classes. Also I have to be really careful about gaining levels now that I don''t know how to gain some of the other levels. This game erases your levels if you gain a class that is incompatible to another class. For example necromancy erases healer levels and divine magic levels, I used to have 3 levels in healer but after getting necromancy with each level the level of healer was reduced until it reached 0. The shitiest part was divine magic because I accidently gained a level in that after I reached level 10 in necromancy and lost some of my necromancy skills. I ended up having to complete the quest for that level again. That is the worst part about Mosaic, for example if someone were to make you drink vampire blood without your knowing you would still turn into a vampire, and depending on your classes it could make you lose a lot of levels in other classes. So you had to be very careful not to do anything that might give you a new class. Then you had to take into account the time needed for quests. Some quests might take days to months to complete, and wasting time on useless classes are¡­ well stupid. That''s also why I can''t say I am entirely level 368, because some of the levels are at 1 because I decided not to gain any levels in them since they¡¯re useless. "Danial is there a problem?" The king asked giving a sharp look behind me at the grumbling sorcerer. "No. No problem." He smiled at the king. It would seem the king doesn''t like the sorcerer, well that''s only natural. Well if it was me ruling this city, I would have already killed someone like Danial who plans to oppose my rule. This guy was a good guy, letting even his enemy run around like this, or just an idiot. He clearly didn''t spend any money like me when playing the game with that character build. Well even level 170 is pretty fearsome in this world. "Shouldn''t you put on the glasses?" Danial whispered into my ears. "Ah- yes." Shit I forgot to put on the glasses. I put on my glasses quickly. Thankfully the king wasn''t paying too much attention to us, as he chatted with someone else beside us. Everyone was trying to talk to the king, since this is one of the few events that allows them to mingle with the king. Then came some girls making quite a bit of noise. One of the girls was trying to hold back another girl from approaching us. "Melly you can''t bother him right now! He''s busy!" And another girl was walking beside them stuffing her face with food. They were all beautiful women. "Tinkula! You promised to dance with me." "No he said he would with me!" The girl pulling her back yelled. The king sighed as he saw the three approaching. "Right. Okay I''ll dance with you. I''ll dance with you too." The girl stuffing her face was now beside the king, a sneak attack, she was holding on to his arm and rubbing her boobs. She shyly asked a question. "Can I dance with you too?" "Fine you too." He sighed. "No! Only me, you''re only allowed to dance with me!" Melly pulled his arm putting all her weight into it. And the king slowly followed her powerful tugs, and was taken to the center of the hall by three girls. Everyone went on after smiling like if it was normal. He was enjoying a harem, while I was slowly gaining knowledge on this world. Not caring about the viral disease that might be in this world he was enjoying it all. Is knowledge not the true fruit of this world! He is nothing but an animal living on desires while I¡¯m climbing to a higher floor beyond what any human can claim¡­ for. The king was smiling and dancing with all three girls happily. Should a king be doing that? I want to go home. "Did you find out his level?" Right this guy is still here, the asshole sorcerer. "Hmm. Yes there was no problem." ¡°What- I-is he too strong?" I must have sounded a bit depressed right now. No, no need to worry asshole sorcerer that¡¯s not the reason I¡¯m¡­ nevermind. "¡­ No. There are no problems, I believe the golem can do it." I said getting my emotions in check. "Really! That''s wonderful." His eyes are sparkling, it looked gross on a 532 year old man. "I think it would be best not to talk about this here." I smiled bitterly at the old man. "Ah- yes, we''ll talk tomorrow, you''ll be staying in town no?" "Ah- yes I''ll be staying for a while." That¡¯s true, but I''ll be teleporting back to my Cave. "Alright, great then we-" "Oh- Danial I haven''t seen you in ages." An old women interrupted us, she looked old enough to be a dead grandmother. All I can say is gravity was not kind to her, even her face seemed to have been affected by it. "The city is completely changed. I''m gone for a few years and its completely different." She laughs mockingly. "So interesting." "Oh- Lameriy so you have returned. But... don''t you think it¡¯s... do you like the changes?" "Well it sure is interesting but I can''t say I approve of everything. It¡¯s so inconvenient, couldn¡¯t even bring my slaves into the country. They even tried to set them free at the entrance, had to let some of my servants go back with the slaves. Quite interesting city this is. But today isn''t about such things, it is to celebrate the new king." "Yes, of course. Oh- William this is Lameriy Hctiblive." "Hi, William Shipudan, I would like to stay and chat but I''m not feeling so well. If you''ll excuse me." I grab Danial to the side. "Sorry, but I''m feeling a bit tired, it might be the glasses. If you don''t mind I''d like to go home... We''ll talk tomorrow." I took off the glasses as I said those words, and placed it back in the case. He looked at me and nodded slightly. ¡°Sure, the glasses¡­ yes they are quite bad... I wanted you to talk to Lameriy a bit more, but I suppose that can wait." With that I give an alright and leave the party early. Why am I feeling so tired and depressed. Parties always do this to me. On the way to my hotel I talk to a nice girl, and I thought I was hitting it off too. But I realized soon she was only being nice because I looked like a nice old man. I wanted to scream I''m only 24, and I''m immortal. I would have probably looked like an idiot if I did it though. After that I didn''t meet anyone on the way back to my hotel, the hotel was so empty. "Already back?" The receptionist asked. "Yeah." With just that much of a reply I climbed the stairs to my room. When I teleported back to the Cave wanting to merge back to the original, he stopped me saying: "You look depressed." With a conversation that started like that the original refused to merge back with me. "I''ll get depressed too, if you merge back with me now. Get yourself to feel better, read a book or something and then come back to merge." Thus I went to the library and tried to read books while wishing we had television and the internet. Chapter 4: NutCandy "No! I''m not going!" I instantly draw him back into me. Before I noticed my fists slam the desk, worried I inspect the condition of the desk. It''s fine¡­ but there''s a small dent. I''ll need to replace it later. "Master Verra, perhaps it is best if you go." So my secretary Stella advises me. As I thought she is better than Rosey as an assistant. If it was Rosey she would have told me to send an NPC, and gotten depressed when I reject the idea. I¡¯m angry but at myself, or more accurately my clones. I have been trying over and over again since early morning, but they have refused my command. "But was it not you that advised against it." She and the other NPCs were against me going outside. Though we haven''t found anything that could even put a scratch on me, they were still the ones against me going outside. "Yes, I would very much rather have one of your clones go for your own safety, Master Verra, but it seems to be useless this time. I cannot fully comprehend your plans Master Verra, but I believe they are important to you. Thus in order to accomplish them, it seems for today you must act." She¡¯s speaking her mind, that¡¯s good. What¡¯s in her settings? I wish I could remember them. She has a point, but I don''t want to go. That¡¯s the problem in itself, my clones won''t do anything I don''t want to do. They are, after all, me. I''ve become lazy, using them for everything since I came to this world. In the game, they merely served as supports for fights. I could use them to play, but I had to take control of them separately and was a pointless skill, used to walk through areas with possible traps. But in this world, I could command them to do things in my place... in theory. ¡°Haa~¡± I have to accept the outcome. "Very well, I''ll go. Please prepare the appropriate clothes." Without making a sound, the maid bowed to me and exited the room. Some of the maids, cooks, and butlers from the 3rd floor have started working in the Cave. Somebody has to do all this paperwork. If another clone, refuses to do work I''ll... The clone forms in front of me with a mere thought, from dust to man. "You''ll be doing the paperwork today since you don''t want to meet the Sorcerer." He looks at me lazily for a while before giving his answer. "Fine." Compared to adventuring and infiltrating a town or city, paperwork was the most boring thing, so it''s usually easy to get them to do other work but today it seems that will not be the case. The good thing with clones is that I don''t need to explain anything; they have all my memories up to the point of creation. The only thing we don''t share is HP, even MP is shared between the clones, and so if one uses it all, the rest of us lose all their MP too. I let him take over and head to my room. Where the maid is waiting with my clothes. After changing I use one of the skills in the Powers of Hermes class to teleport to the hotel. ??? "You can both leave." The maid and Stella bow to me and exit my office. This is a lot of paperwork, he didn''t laze around and leave everything to me, did he? Yes, yes he did, I have his memories. Fuck, well it''s not about the quantity but quality. I should just do what I can and leave the rest to the original. What else can I do really? That maid, her name was Zwanzig, I think, well they all look so similar. That''s my fault too, I got bored and just ended up copying and pasting their settings, slightly changing their design here and there. The only ones who would be clearly unique are probably Onn, Rant, Munn and probably a few others in the 384 maids I created over the 3 years after making my base. I really did go insane in the game didn''t I? Spending that much money. If you consider just the NPCs over 300 I have more than 4000 of them. The cost of NPCs didn''t change with levels so I made as many NPCs as I could with the money I had. If you consider just the maid NPCs I must have spent more than 10,000 dollars. All together considering the 20,000 something NPCs I have in my base, I spend a lot of money. I wanted to make an army of 100,000 to take over a certain kingdom, in the game, but that didn¡¯t quite pan out. Clearly. Thinking about it; I squandered all of my inheritance. Everything my parents and my grandparents worked hard for. Thank god they''re dead, ku ku ku. Technically it wasn''t a waste since this world became real, and even if it didn''t I had enough to survive for another 3 years. Just enough time to work up the courage to kill myself, certainly not enough time to start changing my life and become a proper human being, ku ku ku. I think it was either death or homelessness that awaited me back on earth. I always hated that place, the feeling of powerlessness. You never get to own yourself for long, majority rules, individuality matters not, and you forget who your enemy is. God dammit, maybe it¡¯s everyone. It''s too fucking expensive to own yourself, at the same time it''s cheap for others to own you. Pick which company you want to work for, pick who gets to own you that''s all. You get to pick, aren''t you happy? Why aren¡¯t you happy? You should be happy. ¡°Ahe~¡± I''m just a lazy stupid piece of shit, aren''t I? I wouldn''t have made it anyway. It¡¯s always just the emotionless indifference or painful sorrow, and sometimes the uncontrollable rage aimed at posters. ??? "What¡¯ll you be doing now?" "If it''s fine with you Madam Stella I would like to accompany you." So she wants to follow me. "I won''t be staying in the cave, I have to make some errands." Cave that''s what the master called it, I would consider it a mansion but I suppose compared to his room in Data-House this can only be considered a Cave. "That''s fine if you''re willing to have me, Madam." "No problem then. And you can stop with the Madam." She might look like that but she''s level 101, none of the NPCs are below level 100. It reflects the Master''s level when he created the base. It means she¡¯s one of the oldest NPCs. It seems the maid understood a bit too fast. "If you''re okay with it... Alright." Is that her normal personality? It''s like that dignified behavior was just an act, it disappeared instantly. She seems relaxed. "Where are we going?" "First we need to check with the cook." This building has 4 floors, the highest section is the master''s living space. His bedroom, library, office... he even has a kitchen. It truly bothered me when he refused to let the cooks in there saying it¡¯s his personal area. I walk in and immediately check the cupboard and fridge. We were able to reproduce all the magic technologies within Data-House here thanks to the engineers. That reminds me of the strange technologies they¡¯re building in the labs. I must go talk to Gorgan when I have the time. "Everything¡¯s filled, Stella." I see, yeah it does seem so. She¡¯s helping me check but I rather she doesn¡¯t, because it leaves a bad taste, when I don¡¯t confirm it with my own eyes. The cupboards, the fridge, everything is filled with food of all kinds. The supply here seems to be handled by the maids, then I only have to check the store room. "Can you teleport?" "No... A lot of my levels are in cooking, cleaning and other household tasks. I know some healing type magic and offensive divine magic." My magic only has enough power to teleport myself, even carry too much equipment would be difficult for me. "I see. Then we''ll head for the teleportation gates."Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. There¡¯s one in every section besides the stairs. "I''m sorry." "Think nothing of it." I give her a smile, to ease the atmosphere. She¡¯s my senior as an NPC, but that is precisely the reason why I¡¯m stronger. We teleport to the first floor since the maids and butlers assigned here are doing their tasks I can skip 2nd and 3rd. "Stella, you know what Master Verra¡¯s planning? I thought about it, but I can''t figure it out." It is none of your business what the Master is planning, a maid only needs to focus on her duties. That is how society works, by everyone doing their part. I won¡¯t say it since I did tell her she didn''t have to act like a maid in front of me. She isn''t even keeping her back completely straight anymore, it seems a bit hunched and when did she have pockets in her skirt. I straighten my glasses to conceal the displeasure reaching the surface. Perhaps it would have been best to walk in silence. "I imagine he wishes to kill the player that rules Tengai. Anything further is beyond me." "I see, so you went to battles with him before." "No, I have never been to any battles with him..." The only ones who''s done that are probably, the Seventy2. "I''ve read few of the reports and talked to the people working in the field, so I can tell." "I''ve never been outside before, well expect here. is it fun?" "It is work." I answer curtly, maybe I should have kept the formality between coworkers. She is growing to be quite annoying. When we reach the kitchen on the first floor, she jumps in front of me to open the door. ¡°Hmm.¡± Okay, that was not necessary. Lam¡¯s a level 10 Master Cook, he¡¯s the head chef in this Cave. "Been a while Stella." He says barely giving me a glaze while pouring more liquor into the frying pan. He is well known for his meals containing a large amount of alcohol. "Is that much necessary?" "The flavor won''t come out otherwise." Well whatever, it''s not like I''m interested in this man, or his job. I am only here to carry out necessary duties within this Cave to ensure that the Master¡¯s life here is as comfortable as possible. And at times of ¡®need¡¯, offer him advice. That was his own request. For the Master himself to ask me that, I must be more valuable than these other NPCs. I must still be cautious; Rosey was replaced without a second thought and thrown into some corner of the world with some filthy animals. If I want to secure a permanent place here I must make myself irreplaceable. Unlike this lowly cook or maid, my place is beside the Master. "Where¡¯s the report?" "Ah~ isn''t it due tomorrow, I''ll get it done by then." ¡°Tic*...¡± I unconsciously clicked my tongue. "Don''t you think you''re cutting it a bit close? Very well tell me the amount now, so I can at least give him a rough report when he comes back." "Well don¡¯t really need anything right now... there¡¯s plenty, but if you¡¯re talking about how much we used up so far then it¡¯s a lot." It¡¯s only been a few weeks since we started using this Cave, but everything needs to be checked weekly, if not daily, to ensure everything is at the best of standards for the Master. I take out my pen and pad, he knows I¡¯m dissatisfied but he ignores me and continues his cooking. "Numbers." I must sound angry by this point. "I''ll have to check." "What do you think you''re doing without even knowing that much!?" "Stella we have more than enough for the next month even if we don''t replenish now." That is true, thanks to preservation magic we can store a large amount of food without ever worrying about it rotting. Just like the rare herbs and such in the treasury. But that isn¡¯t the point, detail is everything, even a single misshapen apple needs to be checked and replaced. "Are you using the older material first?" I know it doesn''t matter with preservation magic, but it is still common sense. "Yes, yes. We make sure to put the new stuff at the back." "Very well, I''ll come tomorrow. Next time, don''t be late on your report." "I''m not late, you¡¯re early!" Lam squawks behind me, as I leave his kitchen. "Where now?" The maid¡¯s still here. "We''re going out to the mines. We must check how the work is going there, and get the monthly report from Digbe." "We''re going outside." The maid asks, smiling. That is not how a maid should be acting, but it¡¯s my fault for giving her the permission. It was an absolute mistake, how enraging, I''ll never be able to take it back. ??? On my way to the sorcerer¡¯s estate, which is some ways off from the main city streets, a coach started following me. I was walking at a leisurely pace, so a horse-drawn carriage should have passed me by, instead, it came beside me and matched my pace. A black haired man wearing adventurer clothing parted the curtains from within the carriage. He looked out of place in that coach. The coach was fit more for a noble, the person inside looked like an adventure, a young one. "Are you William the collector?" He asks when our eyes meet. William the Collector, sounds like I collect souls. "Yes, I''m William Shipudan." "I was sent by the Core Sorcerer to get you." "I see." The carriage comes to a stop, the door opens, and the young man moved further away from me and into the carriage, to make room. I really wouldn''t have minded getting their slowly, or not get there at all. It¡¯s all for the plan Verra. Somewhere along the way, I notice he didn''t take the easiest route to the sorcerer¡¯s estate. But it could be just some other way I am not familiar with, so I stayed quiet. If he''s trying to do something, I''ll kill him. That''s all there is to it. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ We¡¯ve been going off route for a while now, and it''s taking too long. "Where are we going?" I finally had to ask. I don''t mind silence, I prefer it, but it¡¯s always awkward to go back to silence after you¡¯ve talked a bit. "The NutCandy Cafe." "Why?" I would like to add where, but that clearly isn¡¯t the sorcerer¡¯s estate, so I would like to know why first. "What!? Didn''t he tell you...? I thought you knew... I see that makes sense." He seems to be thinking about how to explain this to me. I want to say ¡®never mind I don¡¯t care¡¯ at this point. I suppose I¡¯ll know when I get there. "It''s where we always gather before he takes us to the other dimension. No one knows the location of that base except the sorcerer, and for all meetings concerning the king he teleports us there." "Ah- I see." We awkwardly go back to silence. After taking turns after turns we finally reach the NutCandy Cafe. The cafe is quite empty, with just a handful of customers. And at the counter is a pale man with dark bags under his eyes. The brown haired adventurer I been traveling with, whispers a few words to him. He then leads me behind the counter. We walk past the kitchen and behind a door that has a wobbly knob, and unoiled hinges; stairs lead down to the basement. There are quite a few people down there, standing around, most seemed a bit too fat and rich, the nobles of the country perhaps. Sure there were some adventurers and other commoner looking people but... "William you made it." Lagose Makotie the fat man with a jiggling belly emerged from the crowd and greeted me. I knew, I knew his name, he''s a merchant who lost out on business due to us. Since we conquered the whole forest and all the mines. His small business failed, but of course, he doesn''t know me, he knows the guy I''m using as our figurehead: Evals Nekorb. "Where''s Danial?" I want to finish this as fast as possible and go home. "He''s teleporting some others right now. He''ll come back soon." As he finished his sentence, a glow of pure white emerged at the center of the room. As the light died down, I could see the figure in the middle of it. He saw me right away as well and came to me. "Our guest of honor has arrived! Everyone this is William Shipudan." He said making a large gesture to me like a magician unveiling his beautiful assistant. It almost made me take a large bow as if we were in a stage play, but of course, I didn''t. I just stood there not knowing what to do. "Come, come. I''ll transport you there right away." He called to me, and some in the crowd seemed a bit disgruntled. "I''ve been waiting for an hour!" One of the men displayed his anger, a noble dressed in what seemed like golden sweatpants and shirt. "I Rebme Dlog demand justice!" "Rebme will you please..." Danial put his hand to his head in a pained manner as he spoke. "It''s fine, he can take my place." "Hum. Alright, then Lagose you can come the next time." Then he told me and three others including Rebme to gather near him and activated the teleportation magic while holding all our hands. He can''t even take more than 4 people at a time, maybe I should just kill all of them, and take the books. The player isn''t even that strong. Where we teleported to was right back at his estate, his underground estate to be more precise. He left me and the three others in some conference room with a large round table. After learning how to teleport here, I allowed some of the ninjas to map the entire area. The secret areas have all been mapped out, and I think I read about this area in the reports. This estate is pretty cool, it''s like two homes built on the same spot. Well with some pocket dimension magic you could probably make it literally in the same space, but for something built without magic it''s amazing. Maybe ''amazing'' is too much for this sorcerer, ''interesting''. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ Hoooollly~ this is going on forever. How can they talk about this for hours without end? What I learned from this meeting is that it¡¯s quite easy to invade the castle walls since we¡¯re already inside the country. We don''t even have to break down the castle walls because about 40% of the soldiers working for the king are ready to betray him the moment they get a chance. ''Betray'', might be a strong word, but from the contents of this meeting, it seems that they''re not loyal. The landscape itself protects this country from invading forces, the Beastman nation is separated by a mountain range which allows some protection, and Nolybab is separated by distance and rough terrain. They¡¯re also allied with this country; well it was, now with the new king it¡¯s probably on complicated status. There are no sewer pipes or tunnels to sneak into the castle because the technology hasn''t gotten there but it still shouldn''t be that hard to invade. We just need one person on the inside on our side. They open the gates, then all outside forces and the betraying-inside forces would dominate the rest of the castle guards. The only problem is the king himself. When it came to him they tossed a lot of doubt my way, but I assured them it was fine. Other than some unknown possibilities that always exists, to the best of my knowledge, it should be fine. From all the reports I¡¯ve read from the spies, it''s clear that he will lose against my Golem and he has no friends or anything like that here. At least none he''s been meeting with. Really, the major problem will be the other players, when they get wind of this. I know there''s an adventurer who was a player, somewhere on this continent. Then there¡¯s Cobalt; we have eyes on him and we have made contact indirectly so it will be interesting to see what he''ll do. According to the NPCs, his level should be somewhere between 200 and 250. That''s the discrepancy when you send NPCs who don¡¯t have God¡¯s Eye, but even 250 is nothing. Other than the adventurer player that I don¡¯t know the level of, I seem to be lucky tossed into a continent will low level players. There might be other players but I hope not, we''ll know after this blows up, I suppose. I don''t really like dealing with it as it comes, but they still won''t be able to pinpoint me. All they''ll know is that there might be a player here that killed another player. Without knowing why, or how and other such details they won''t move... So when they¡¯re searching around, it¡¯ll be the best time to act. It''s just a matter of who kills who first. I rather eliminate all the players in one swoop, but that''s dangerously impossible. Come on let''s wrap this up, people. This room uses candles for lighting, it''s making me sleepy. "William... so how long will it take to transport the Golem?" Oh- did they reach some kind of conclusion. "About 3 weeks." I can bring it over right now, but 3 weeks seem like a good amount of distance. Just in case 3 weeks are too small an amount. ¡°It¡¯s already being transported.¡± "Um. Then it should be fine, in a month we will launch a full attack on the castle." Danial said appraising everyone¡¯s reaction and nodding in satisfaction. Some of them were even cheering. All this because someone took away their slaves. And I''m their ally in this farce, ku ku ku. They said a bunch of dates and stuff, but all I remembered was when I needed to meet Danial at his estate with the Golem. Which we discussed quite a bit. All in all, I''m not really doing much other than giving temporary command over the Golem to Danial. The Golem''s programming won''t allow it to harm me, or the NPCs. So I have nothing to worry about, hopefully. All I know is that I get a month off, almost a month. Thank the lords! Chapter 5: Slums Finally, I was able to go back to my Cave. I assigned one of my clones to the hotel. Since he just has to stay in this room, and can lazily read all the books he wants he accepted without any problems. ¡°So you¡¯re good?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Message the librarians at Data-House if you need any books transported.¡± ¡°I know.¡± He has all my memories so of course, he knows. It should be fine. He''s just here in case someone knocks. I teleport to the base of the mountain, near the entrance to the Cave. The Cave entrance is usually closed by a giant rock that splits open when I say ¡®Open Sesame.¡¯ But today the secret cave entrance is wide open and Stella is there directing summoned NPCs to move some lions. Lion Statues covered in green moss, underneath it, it¡¯s gold. I want to ask what she''s doing but¡­ something about today just makes me want to crawl up in my bed. I don''t know why it''s like this, some days I want to rule the world and other days I just want to find a good branch and hang myself. Stella approaches me instead. "Master Verra, you''ve returned. I have taken upon myself to instruct the men working at Mizar, to move these statues to the Cave''s storeroom." Island Mizar, the one we recently occupied, before the Cave was completed. I put all of the treasure we found in the lost city of Mizar in the Cave''s storeroom. But I ignored everything that was outside the city''s treasury. There were gold statues right in the middle of the city, even some buildings had jewels impeded on them. "Do we have room for this in the storeroom?" "I instructed them to bring everything we can fit, but to bring everything that¡¯s in the city we''ll need to move some things into the House treasury, or create another Cave. How shall I proceed?" No, don¡¯t proceed; you could have done nothing and left them there, to begin with, but now that you¡¯ve already done this much. "Leave whatever you can''t fit in the Cave''s storeroom alone. And start melting these statues to make gold ingots. If you need Deman¡¯s help for that, ask him." "Right. I will instruct them so." "Um. More importantly, how is the harvest?" The Mizar Island grows this amazing fruit called Tholos. The juice inside it has a citrusy taste, and it¡¯s like a coconut except the mesocarp is more like an orange or lemon that you can just scoop out and eat. It has a similar flavor to the juice but feels like eating green grapes without the skin. "Yes, it''s coming along well, but..." She looked a bit disgruntled. "They¡¯ve not finished their reports, so I can only estimate the amounts stored in the warehouse." "Isn''t the reports due tomorrow? It''s fine, I already have paperwork piling up." "I''ll instruct them never to do it again and to at least have it finished 3... No, a week early." "No, no, there is no need for that, just leave it alone." Is she one of those horrible bosses that are plain insane? She does do a better job than Rosey, but I think that''s because of her settings. They¡¯re probably all good at what I intended for them to be good at, it¡¯s just been too long since I made them. "If you have everything settled here, let¡¯s go to my office." "Yes. They should be fine on their own now." Then she turned to them and shouted. "All of you, I''m going with Master Verra. Work to die!" "YES!!" They all kneeled down on one leg, while still holding a statue. They''re too high level, to find them heavy. She turned around with a bright smile. "I''m finished here." "Um. Okay." ¨‹¨‹¨‹ The files have really piled up; they''re comically obstructing my view. I''ll try to finish a hundred today. "By the way, did we get a report back from Derraacs?" All my clones have a different name so we don''t confuse them. Well some of them have two, for meeting different people. It was dispatched a few days ago. All my problems started after that. At least that clone listened to me. "No Master Verra, but I believe they should have reached Nolybab by now." "Hmm..." Then why isn''t he reporting back? ??? "Mr. Derraacs Dlab... From the independent Violet estate..." The soldier was looking over our documents, reading bits and pieces out loud, probably pieces he thought were important. The other soldiers were going through our baggage, and searching our personal carriage. I watched the soldier examining my cane, it was just a normal cane but he was spending a lot of time examining every detail of it. The soldiers standing behind the one reading my documents were examining me from head to toe, gauging me. When they first saw me step out of the coach, I remember they took a step back. This form is quite large even though it¡¯s human. I thought with the makeup all over my head covering all the scars I looked less intimidating, but I suppose it''s still too much. I tried growing my hair before I came here; an experiment. It wasn''t possible in the game, at least I think it wasn¡¯t. The original never let a clone like me stay out for months since he never played that long without logging out. The hair did grow, but there were too many large scars on this head that it looked funny with hair. So I went back to being bald, with scars all over my head. Since hair didn''t work, we used makeup instead, as long as I don''t scratch it, it should be fine. I still wore a Panama hat, just to have something cover my head. "... So you''re coming here to start up a new pharmacy branch..." He said nodding his head in approval. "Yes, Sir." "¡­. NewLife¡­ I hear a lot of good things about them." He shut the document and stamped it. It had some kind of magic, which made the ink from the stamp glow. Then he handed it back to me. "Have a safe trip." "Thanks." I had to take the cane back from the soldier who was still examining it. We got back in the coach, and I told the coachman to head to the hotel. He looked at the map our spies made of the whole kingdom, grasping an understanding of the location he commanded the horses forward. ??? The Kingdom of Nolybab is the most southern part of the continent of Iacta. The Kingdom is known for the Omron Church and the Casinos. "Master Derraacs, should we not sign into a hotel." "Didn''t we already sent Iru to take care of it?" Will that girl be fine? If master trusts her then I suppose it should be fine. "May I ask where we are headed?" It''s not my right to ask these things, but apparently master has been telling a lot of NPCs to express their opinions and even praised Stella for it. That girl... personally I don''t mind but jealousy can drive people mad. "Well, I want to check out the Casino, and the condition in the slums around here." Perhaps asking ¡®why¡¯, would be going too far? My reason to be is to simply serve the Master. If he wishes to go to the Casinos and the slums I should assist to the fullest degree without out hesitation. But what my Master said next surprised me, to say the least. "Aren''t you going to ask ¡®why¡¯?" "I-I didn''t... no. I don''t think I¡¯m worthy." I spoke the honest truth, I am not worthy. "There is no reason to think like that, for a matter of fact, I can use your insight. Matters concerning the Casino... are still... You could say I am just going to observe or have some fun." Could it be something Master Derraacs came up with himself, I heard the clones sometimes rebel. He is still my Master and I should listen, but... maybe¡­ Would persuading Master Derraacs to follow Master Verra''s plan make Master Verra praise me? I''m old enough to know I shouldn¡¯t be playing with fire. "But at the slums, you might be of great help to me Simon." "Yes!" Anything to help the Master. Yes, that''s right, I should follow my orders without ulterior motives. It is utter treachery to do so otherwise. "Energetic, good. Let¡¯s go to the slums first then." Master led me to the slums using god¡¯s magic, only players possess, it seems they see some kind of map in front of them. The slums are at the northwestern corner of this kingdom, meeting the shorelines to the west, and barren land to the north. It covers a quarter of this countries landmass. It''s an area of land covered by houses made of gray bricks. The land loses altitude as it reaches the ocean, the waves eroding some of these people¡¯s homes. In 1000 years perhaps all of this will be underwater.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. As we entered the slums, Master told me about the reports. "The reports we got back from my previous clones, ninjas, and spies show, that most of these children either join the mafia-" "Mafia!" I let my voice leak, my memories of our previous world came back to me. "Not the same as in the game. I mean it in the sense of a gang or yakuza, or a group of thugs. Whatever you want to call it." Master corrected my misconception right away. I offered my apologies for shouting, and Master merely waved it off. "They''re called... It''s best not to mention them by name here." He said having glanced at a man that has been staring at us from the corner. The man was slumped over on the dirty floor, chewing on a cigarette bud. Tattered clothing, lifeless eyes, dark dirty skin, that''s when I noticed quite a lot of eyes were drawn to us. I was a precisely dressed butler, with no facial hair and combed black hair. Master wore a beige and elegant coat which went down to his knees, and a tie and suit to match underneath. He also carried a cane which could be considered expensive by this world''s standards let alone in the slums. Suffice to say we stuck out like a sore thumb. "Don''t mind them too much, it''s good that they''re staring at us," Master said to me, who was staring at these poor unfortunate souls with pity, while he looked ahead. "I like their eyes full of greed and envy." He added, with what seemed like a smile. I couldn''t quite tell being a bit behind him, but for a moment I thought the master was smiling evilly. I can feel nothing but pity for these people. The windows and doors are broken, I haven''t found a home that seemed even a bit livable. I could see the families inside, even in this country with so much magic technologies, they still light their fires with sticks and stones. It was just one of the many things I saw; you would never see anything like this in Otnorot. Then suddenly a boy came before my Master and went for his shoes. For a moment I thought of stopping him, but then I saw that the boy was trying to clean it, with some ragged cloth he seemed to have found somewhere. No shoe polish or the proper brush that needs to be used. I wondered if the master was angry. When I looked up to his face, I couldn''t discern any emotions from it. Then when the boy finished he stuck out his arm. Master took out his pouch, giving the boy a silver coin. What!? 1 silver coin is 100 copper, with that he could live for a month in comfort, a much better life than in these slums. For the people of these slums, it''s too much. He will merely become the target of little thieves. The boy stared at the coin in amazement. My Master bends down and cleans the boy¡¯s face with his hands, rubbing off some of the black dirt from the beautiful boy¡¯s cheek. After which my master walked on, I followed behind looking at the boys back, as he ran deeper into some corner of the slums. I hope he stays safe. "Will that be fine?" My thoughts slipped out as we left the slums. Questions like ¡®why did we come here¡¯ and ¡®are we just going to leave¡¯ came to mind. As if he had read my mind, Master answered me. "I have done what I came here to do. Now let¡¯s go to the casino." ??? I''m almost finished with this; 100 reports. I wish they would do the summary properly so I don''t have to read the whole report. Oh- I''ll never get used to this, message icons just popping up right in front of your eyes. ''Rosey: Master Verra I finished the report on all the Lukluk people. When should I drop it off?'' She doesn''t need to waste her time, coming here, I''ll just have Stella pick it up. ''Verra: I''ll send Stella over to pick it up.'' A knock came from the door as I send the message. ¡°Come in.¡± It was Stella and Zwanzig with my tea. "Master Verra we brought you, your tea." She''s smiling too much. Isn¡¯t this kind of late for tea? Not that I mind. "Thanks." I don''t know how they do it, but this tea is the best, much better than the ones back on earth. "Stella, Rosey finished her report on our new citizens, the Lukluk people." You remember them right. "Pick it up when you''re finished with the tea." "All shall be as you command Master Verra." She gulped down the tea really fast and bolted out. You didn''t need to rush. Wasn''t it hot? What were her classes again? They might provide protection against heat. I''ll finish a few more reports and check out what they''re cooking in the lab. ??? "Where''s Rosey, Skullgen?" "She''s with Didi, Madam Stela. Enjoying her time with the Lukluk. Discussing things about the village under construction. In the house Master gave her. They are sitting in there somewhere. In a room talking, and possibly enjoying snacks. By a window or some kind of lighting. In front of a-" ¡°That¡¯s enough. Lead the way.¡± It¡¯s good that Zwanzig hasn¡¯t spread the word. If everyone stopped calling me ''Madam'' it would be horrible. The girl has been absolutely rude since then. "Yes, as you command. If that is your wish. I will-" ¡°In silence.¡± Thank you. Rosey you have fallen so low, having to toil around with these lower life forms. He he he, I shall learn from your mistakes. So teach away, teach away. So this is where she''s been living. Master was kind enough to give you one of his treasures, wonder if he''ll give me something. Of course he will, if he was willing to give something to the likes of her, a failure, then I am sure to get a much greater reward. I see this ''Girl House'' is larger on the inside than the outside. What!? She even has a maid, the only one who should be granted a maid is the Master. And maybe Cybel, but she is an exception. "You look like you''re having fun." Having tea with this Lukluk. Hope you¡¯re enjoying yourself because I will not be giving this position back to you. I will stay beside the master for eternity. "Stella, here''s the report." No ¡®Madam'', and right to business. I see, you want me out, the moment I''m here. "Want some tea, the maids are also making some cookies." I guess not. Well... Good. "Would love to." He he he. "Madam Stella I would also like to give a word of thanks to the master." This Lukluk, why is she sitting on the same level as me? Rosey has been too kind to her. "I''ll have to talk to the Master if you want to meet him." Please be quite, you''re ruining the tea. "Yes! I am aware, I wrote a letter of thanks and a request myself. If you can present it to Master Yug, you have my sincerest gratitude." "Hmm... Sure." This tea isn''t so bad, is she using the Master''s supplies or outside sources. "What kind of tea is this?" "I also wrote that in the report." Why is she smiling? "Madam Stella, this is a special kind of tea leaf we Lukluk people brought along. It is an ancient plant passed down from generation to generation. I must thank Master Yug again, thanks to his kindness we have been able to grow it without worry of attracting the mountain beasts." So they''re farmed. Aren¡¯t tea plants usually grown in large mountain ranges. "Yeah, Stella, you must have seen it right? The farming area we''re building. We''re almost finished the villagers'' homes too, and I''m even thinking of expanding it, to turn it into a city." "I see. I''ll make sure to tell the Master your good work." Like fat chance, rot here forever. "Don''t worry I''m writing the report on Lukluk technology and culture. I''m sure master will be interested." Do whatever you want. "Good for you, work hard." "Ms. Rosey may I be excused. I am really enjoying this, but I am growing worried about leaving Juju alone." "Oh- Yeah sure." With the Lukluk gone I can finally talk normally. "I see that Master gave you some parting gifts." This house is pretty nice. "Sigh*, do you really think I was demoted like the others. I thought you were smarter than that Stella." This girl, what is she trying to say. "What do you mean?" "This job is important too, Stella. Why do you think he wanted me to create a report on each of the Lukluk." A question mark must have appeared on my face because she was acting very arrogant. "Master doesn''t care about who''s working the closest, to him; only the results." "Of course, results are important." "To tell you the truth I''m glad I''m not working as Master''s assistant, I don''t mean to say I didn''t understand the profundity of being his right hand." Yes, what are you saying? Being close to him is everything. "All I''m trying to say is, be careful." What? That''s it. What does that even mean? Are you just going to sip your tea, without explaining any further? Well, it doesn''t concern me what you think if you don''t want this position back, all the better. I''ll even tell master you''re enjoying this job very much, a lot more than when you were with him. He he he, all that matters is securing my own place, so I won''t be tossed out like you. Maybe she¡¯s just putting up an act for me, it truly does make me want to laugh. Only her, she''s the only one that makes me want to laugh, so much. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "Master I''m bac-" It''s just the maid, where is Master Verra? "Oh- Stella, Master Verra went to the base, he wanted to see how the lab was progressing." "Is that so? Then I''ll go to him." "That''s not necessary. Master Verra told me to tell you that you could leave the report on his desk and take the rest of the day off." Why would he tell you that; is what I want to say to that grinning face of yours. But¡­ "I see." So Zwanzig you are against me as well, but why. Do you think a maid like you could replace me? "Then I''ll be in my room." I''ll have to send a message to Master, if he needs me he''ll have to know where to find me. Call or message; I think I''ll call. ??? Out of the 3 floors this one''s my favorite; the Lab. The Otnorot City is pretty good too but I expanded parts of the city randomly. When finished, it was going to be good, but increasing the space over and over again till parts of it was filled with half-constructed buildings and empty barren land makes it look kind of shit. Only the center was developed, I was going to add more NPCs and turn the whole place into a more modern environment, but it''s too late now. This floor, on the other hand, is finished, though I could add more rooms and departments, it has a finished look to it. It had the design of a futuristic research center. If you went in without a map you would get lost in the maze. Moving walkways, everything is platinum coated, and large rectangular windows with 4-cut corners looking into the weird experiments going on. Robots and weird doohickeys everywhere. It was made so that players invading would get lost, and depending on the area they ended up in different attacks would be launched on them. Physics department has gravity ray, lasers, and other stuff. The Chemistry department has poison attacks, acid attacks, gas attacks and all that good stuff. Each department has their own specialty. The departments are split up into even smaller sections too. It¡¯s pretty much a large maze. Even though I built it I still need to activate my map if I want to go to some places; the place I''m going to today is one I memorized over repeated visits. The moment I enter the Physics department I¡¯m rushed by a sudden wave of scientists. All of them have questions, and too much enthusiasm to show me their work. "Master Verra do you think this design or-" "Master Verra I believe I worked out the issue-" "Master Verra I might need another-" "Master Verra the power plant you want designed-" "Master Verra about the temp-" "Master Verra I finish-" Every time it¡¯s the same, bombarded with questions and reports. "Please everyone, one at a time. For now please go back to your sub-departments, I''ll be visiting everyone in time." "Of course, our deepest apologies." "Yes, I have been rude. I apologize." One after another they gave me their apology and went back, it would be better if they just didn''t rush me. Today I''m trying to see if we can get electricity running. Or how far we are from it. "Professor Electon how is it going?" "Master Verra, I have them testing out different methods I came up with after reading those books you brought from the Grand Library. So far we have built a small scale model for the waterfall and the wind turbines using the book''s designs, but it seems we don''t have some of the material for solar power. I am trying to get the chemistry department to look at it. Also, the architectural department is currently working on the actual designs for the large-scale power plant. But right now all I can show you is the small scale models we have been working on." Wow, he said a lot really fast. Is he nervous or is he just like that, it didn''t sound nervous, just fast. "I see. No need, as long as you can apply the theories it will be fine. Make sure to work with the architects properly so there aren''t any problems installing the turbines and generators when the time comes." "Yes, I am personally overseeing the whole plant design. No needs to worry, Master Verra." "Alright. I trust you." "Thank you." I have no clue what half of them are doing but it looks serious. "Oh- Dexman what''re you doing here?" "Ah- sorry¡­ I-I wanted to see if I could build something." So timid, well he''s 12 years old in his settings. Head of the computer science department, since there were no computers in the game I gave him a whole department with no subordinates. "No reason to worry, what''re you building?" "Am- Ah- it''s this." What''s this, looks like a huge box with numbers on it, a safe? "Y-you use it like this." He put it down on the floor and turned the crank. What is this, a jack in the box? Well, it looks like it, if you turn it like that. It''s a calculator, a simple calculator. "I see, I see. Let me try it." "I-I can spin it... for you." "Oh- thanks." Thus he spun the handle and I pressed the numbers and on the small screen numbers lit up. Addition and subtraction, no multiplication or division yet, but it¡¯s still amazing. "This is really good if you can reduce the size it would be great!" We''re getting closer to the modern era. A small but important step. "I- I had to use some magic crystals b-but I think I can replace them with what the book said. I-I''ll trying building them." "Is that why you were here? Well, this is still a bit too early to be built, hopefully, in time we can build it without magic." Yeah, it can''t be helped, I can''t tell what''s inside but even building this with magic is pretty good. A new magic item that didn''t exist in the game if nothing else. "Thank you for showing it to me Dexman." "Y-you''re welcome. No- i-it was my pleasure Master Verra." I should give him some subordinates, I already know NPCs can gain levels in this world, if he can teach them about computer science, then any of the uselessly large number martial artists could become a computer scientist. In this world, their high levels in combat are useless right now. Ring* ring* ring*. Who''s calling me? Answer. I can hear it right in my head, I hate this feeling. ¡°Did Zwanzig not give you my message? You can leave it on my desk.¡± Please don''t shout in my fucking head. Hmm... ¡°I''ll be staying the night in my room, is there a problem.¡± Sigh* ¡°No.¡± That was just a figure of speech, all I said was let¡¯s talk later. I can''t say no, can I? It just wouldn¡¯t be a nice thing to do. Maybe I should get Rosey back. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°No y-¡° Ou Don''t have to rush I wanted to check out the genetics department. ¡°Haa~¡± Chapter 6: The Red King "So the next one we''re heading to is the largest mansion they have, right?" "Yes, Master Derraacs." The houses we¡¯ve looked at so far didn''t satisfy Master Derraacs, it''s understandable, even the Cave is 100 times better than the ones they showed us so far. "Iru, you buy the house." "Huh?" We must have both had question marks on our faces right now. "It''s around 2000 gold, right? Here I''ll give you 3000 just in case." He handed Iru a small pouch, a pocket dimension, no one would think it has 3000 gold. "Take it and go buy the mansion, if it''s the biggest then there shouldn''t be a problem. While Simon and I will head to the slums." "I see, you wish to go to the slums... Sure, I''ll handle it." "Greet, will you be fine if we drop you off here?" "From here... Okay, no problem." After Iru was left, master directed the coachman to the area in the slums we were yesterday. The slums are to the northwestern corner of the Kingdom. It takes up about one-fourth of the countries area and houses one-third of the Kingdom¡¯s people. Where we went to, is the southern tip of the slums. Perhaps the better part - if the word better could be used - compared to the far west or the far north. "Now tell me, Simon, what do you think of the child we met yesterday?" What do I think of him? The child might have been a bit avid. A bit of a victim of life, surely he has already faced tragedies. Such a young life, and to be in that state, but this could be said about all the kids there, I believe. The only thing of notice is that he was the only one who approached Master Derraacs. He was the only one who took any action, the rest just stared while he saw an opportunity. "I believe he was a bit daring, especially for a child, and his eyes showed a strong will." Master smiled broadly, I''ve never seen this side of him before. "None of the other children approached me but he did. It shows his willingness do anything, to get out of the slums." I thought that as well, but anything; isn''t that reading too much into it. Should I express my doubt? If Master says so it should be right, but why does it seem like he wants me to say something. "I hear the nobles discriminate against the people of the slums, so it''s understandable why the other children would not approach. And with the way we¡¯re dressed Master they might have mistaken you for a noble." I don''t know why I stuck up for them but I did. Did it displease him? "My apologies I have said too much." "No, it¡¯s good that you are expressing your opinion that is what I want. But it is also true that the nobles would never go down to the slums on their own volition." That is true, his insight is, of course, much deeper than mine. "It shows that the boy took a chance, a gambler. So you were right on point when you judged him." I have been rude and yet he still praises me; I don''t deserve it. "Thank you. Master your insights are far too deep for someone like me to begin comprehending them." "Ye-o-okay." We went through the same path we took yesterday. There are many eyes watching us, same as yesterday, but today there was a strange glimmer in those eyes that weren¡¯t there before. Then just like yesterday, around the same area as yesterday, the boy came out. He had a little girl by her arm, he brought her in front of us. Then he went to work cleaning Master''s shoes, the girl joined in as well, each taking a shoe. Master waited for them to finish as he had done yesterday, and when they finished, the little girl quickly hid behind the boy, revealing her shy nature. The boy was at least 3 years older than the girl. They both had black messy hair, dark eyes, and white skin, though it seemed to be covered in dirt all over. The master took out another silver coin and handed it to the boy holding out his hands. The boy then urged the girl to the front, pushing her forward. She presented Master Derraacs with a single flower. White petals, yellow middle, it was a simple flower you could find anywhere... A sudden impulse, a curiosity made me gaze across the cracked and blackened grounds in search of a similar flower. While searching, Master''s question returned my focus. "Is this your sister?" "Yes!" The boy answered like a soldier giving an affirmative. Master returned a gentle smile, something I had never seen from him before. It is not right to think this but Master is quite an emotionless man in his daily life, I have only seen him angry once, and I¡¯ve never seen him happy or laughing. It might bet that I haven¡¯t had enough opportunities to be near him till now, having been a butler on the 3rd floor. "You have a good brother. I''ll give you one the shoe and one for this flower." He handed out two silver coins to the girl and rubbed her hair. The siblings bowed to us in thanks, before running off. I got the feeling, for his sister, this boy would do anything. As I watched them run back into the crowd, I realized what the glimmer in their eyes meant. It worried me. "Master Derraacs, will we be coming here tomorrow?" "Yes, we will. But¡­" Then he said as if to calm my concerns. "¡­ tomorrow will be the last. Tomorrow we''ll know if he takes me for an idiot." "Takes you for an idiot!? Who? ... The boy!?" I wasn''t sure what he was saying. "Yes. Well, if he does then we''ll just have to start over at some other part of the slums. This one just fell into our lap, but I could try some other methods." I realized at some point his words weren''t addressed to me. "I wonder if my acting was okay." His words were a whisper, and they were probably never meant to be heard. ??? "Look at those swine, disgusting. The demi-humans and the like, I can understand, they must have celebrated our king''s death, but how can these commoners just walk around. As if nothing has changed, have they abandoned their humanity? Traitors, they¡¯re all beasts in the mind, wearing human skin. They''re not human where it counts." "Danial how about you stop peeking through the curtains and have some of this nice tea that your maids were kind enough to make." Don¡¯t give me that glare. You know, I more than anyone can understand your pain. I can sympathize more than I would like to, but even I''m growing tired of hearing it. "I would be angry at those words if it was coming from anyone else Lagose Makotie! But from you, who was the most affected by the fall..." "Hey! Hey. No need to pity me." It''s true I lost all my assets and even lost my home under the new laws of equality, but don''t give me those eyes. "Forget about the past, the future is what matters." "I don''t trust him. Hmm¡­" Zejimal, that again. Did the word ¡®future¡¯ trigger him, or are there no need for triggers to begin with. "And, what don''t you trust about him?" "Hmm¡­ There is a lot not to trust." "What is that supposed to mean!?" "Alright, alright both of you calm down." "I am plenty calm!" "I am¡­ calm." "Okay, okay. I understand a random stranger coming to help us is a bit-" "I was the one that asked for help." "Okay that might be true, but let me get to my point. When opportunity knocks, you don''t turn it down Zejimal." Did that get through to them, or are neither of them paying attention? "Hmm¡­ I wonder what he means by favor." Now that''s a good question Zejimal. "I''ve been wondering that as well." "Does that matter, if we can get rid of that red bastard!?" Don¡¯t let your hatred cloud your mind, Danial. More than that, I want to know. "Can this Golem he''s bringing do what he says it can do?" That seems to have calmed you down. I see, it was worrying you as well Danial. "Hmm¡­ I wouldn''t¡­ bet on it." I wasn''t asking you, we already know you don''t. "He said it would arrive in 3 weeks. So we''ll have 1 week; plenty of time to test it out. Zejimal, bring enough adventures, the strongest ones. If it can''t beat them, then it''ll be useless against the Red King." That man single handily took out the entire army when he took over this city. If it can''t even do that much then it really is hopeless.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Don''t worry¡­ I plan on fighting it¡­ myself.¡± Aren''t you a bit too old for that? "I don''t care if you fight or not, but make sure you bring enough people to test it out." I see I was worrying over nothing; angry but logical, that''s why I can leave it to you, Danial. I don''t trust William either if I''m honest, but I trust you. I know at the end of the day you aren¡¯t someone who would be clouded by emotions; I know you pull through. That brings back some bad memories. ??? "The City of Tengai has stolen the property of The Omron Church. The City must now accept reimbursements and return the products to its rightful owner. If the City of Tengai does not comply with this demand, the Kingdom of Nolybab will aid the Omron Church in reclaiming the Church''s property." ''Property'', that''s what we stole, was it? "Emali let¡¯s take a little break, you¡¯ve been reading all day." To just read for the king, this job must suck for her. "Yes your Majesty." "Your Majesty, shouldn''t you learn to read on your own? That¡¯ll greatly help you in the future." As soon as she leaves that''s what you have to say, Grayson. It''s not like I''m not trying, it''s just hard to learn a new language. Thank god for this ring, my precious. "Majesty maybe if you were to remove that ring you can get a better grasp of the language." I just glanced at it! He notices the smallest things. More importantly. "Forget that for now. How should we deal with this declaration of war?" "Do you plan to give them back, your majesty?" "Of course not, they made it this far on their own so I''ll protect them." "So war it will be, your Majesty." After becoming king I had to deal with a lot of bullshit, but this will be the first time my country goes to war. "Then¡­ How do the forces compare?" What''s with that look, I can handle some bad news. That''s all I been handling since I came to this world. "If we gather all the guards, and knights we can get it close to 50,000. But that would leave the city defenseless against any other attack." We could hire mercenaries but that would run the country dry. Should I try conscription? No that should be left as a last resort and only if it¡¯s absolutely necessary. It wouldn''t hurt to ask. "Grayson, what do you think about conscription?" That bad; I think I turned his face 10 years older. It suits your white hair, really you look too young for a 120 year old. I know Foxman live longer but still, you should look your age. "Can I speak frankly your majesty?" "Sure, go head." In what other way were you speaking to me till now? "You would split even the slaves. Your Majesty, right now you are very popular with the former slaves, some even revere you a god. The commoners just don''t care either way, they couldn''t afford slaves before and now it¡¯s illegal, their lives are the same." I think I already get it, but revering me as a god¡­ I don''t know what to say. "Now, your Majesty, the commoners¡¯ neutral emotions will surely become negative, but that isn''t surprising since a lot of them are racist, to begin with. Then there are the ex-slaves; people like me, well I''m a bit too old for that now, but I would be thrilled at the chance of fighting these basta- Cough*Hm* Excuse me, fighting your Majesty''s enemies. Then there are the ones who would detest you for giving them a taste of freedom before sending them to their deaths. I don''t approve of their thinking, but I can understand them." "I see, no conscription then." Why¡¯re you still making that face? "What''s with that face? Okay, first of all, don''t worry, I was trying to be lazy. If I wanted to, I can take on the entire Kingdom of Nolybab by myself." "Huhuhuhuhu" "Wha~ don¡¯t laugh at me. You¡¯re the butler, you¡¯re not supposed to laugh at the king." "Sorry, my apologies your Majesty. Forgive me for I am still inexperienced as a butler. I am confident in your Majesty''s power as well but I think we should try to get as many volunteers as possible. I like to think there are more ex-slaves willing to join the fight, than not." This is the kind of mood I like. "Now how are the enemy forces?" That fucken face again, god dammit. "Around 600,000 your majesty." "I see.¡± Fuck. Our military doesn''t have a chance. ¡°Try to get the word out, that we need volunteers, as fast as you can. We''ll decide everything else at a later date." The sooner we do this the better, can¡¯t procrastinate. But that¡¯s easier said than done. "Grayson, I''m going to take the day off, tell Emali." "You-" "Also tell the maids to bring me some sweets, to the bedroom." Don''t facepalm in front of the person. It''s not like I''m trying to avoid work, it''s just a lot to take in. I''m tired, I have to go to war with an army 10 times my own. If it was a normal world you would surrender before the war even started, no before it was even mentioned. An entire army¡­ I should have played this game more, should have raised my level to one of those top players. I wish I was transported into Forgotten World I had a maxed out character in that, instead of this stupid game without even a max level. Fuck. It''s been a year since I came here I still can''t get used to it. A year¡­ time goes by fast. At least I improved since then, back then I was so... Well... At first, I was just confused, a part of me was thrilled at the new adventure, but it wasn''t like that game was my entire life. Half being driven around by my survival instincts, half just dazed about what to do. I think it''s that same survival instinct that kind of makes you see the positive side every day, no matter what you always try to look for the better. You kind of just put the other stuff at the back of your mind. Consciously or unconsciously you just push it back. I won''t say I didn¡¯t want to cry at times, and I would be lying if I said I didn''t have a few manly tears, and maybe a little bit of that helped me hold it together. The first few days were the toughest, wandering around in the forest having not a clue. Being level 302, it wasn''t that hard, physically. It would have been harder if I didn''t have food stored in my Slots. Then eventually I met some humans. I ran into a coach being attacked by some bandits. Of course, I saved them, and the person in the carriage even turned out to be the princess of this country. I learned later everyone calls this a City because of its history. I was invited as a guest and even had dinner with the king, her family. At first, I didn''t realize it... No, I didn''t want to realize it, I didn''t want to know that the princess who laughed at my stupid jokes, and was so nice to me could do all of that. Could¡­ The fantasy world didn''t even last a month, I couldn''t just watch anymore. It started off as just arguments with the king, just arguments. Then... it just escalated I guess. Before I knew it... "Haa~" I was Moses, except they weren''t even my people. ???? Elizabeth wiped away the sweat on her forehead. She¡¯s trying to help at the bakery where her mother works. She watched her mother chop up fruits in seconds, like a machine. Chopped it all up into little square pieces of rainbow-colored sweets. Elizabeth¡¯s trying to peel the ognam, but it just doesn''t peel the way it should. She''s watched her mother peel these before, the skin just slides off, smoothly over the knife. For some reason, with her, it keeps breaking into small pieces, and it''s not smooth at all. She reckons it has something to do with the way she holds the ognam, but the way it needs to be held felt too unsafe. It only left the thin skin of an ognam between the knife and her, and no matter how much she tried to copy her mother, fear won, and she would move her hand. So she was much slower and the fruit looked all weird when she cut it, compared to her mother. Her mother would never scold, though, instead, her mother would do all the other things she needed to make Numnum. Then when Elizabeth was done, she would say thank you, and even a ''job well done'', but Elizabeth felt she needed to improve, get faster and help out her mother more. Right now the bakery¡¯s quite, there is just her and her mother. There is one customer in the bakery, and he¡¯s sitting in the corner reading something. It was a bakery at the back but at the front it was a bit of a cafe as well. The customer was quietly reading, and enjoying tea. He was an old man with gray hair wrinkled face and dark eyes. Eyes that looked a bit scary sometimes when she had to serve him, but he never talked other than to order and to give thanks. He''s been coming around a few days now, and everyone who saw him agreed he¡¯s probably rich. He didn''t wear any fancy jewelry like the nobles, or merchants, and you couldn''t really tell with the white gloves he always wore. The clothes he¡¯s wearing looked a bit too expensive to be a commoner''s, he also gave some big tips, and above all was the book. Books are a luxury only the rich could enjoy. He was kind of a sore thumb, because most people who came here were former slaves, and sometimes the commoners. The rich people would never step into this den of ex-slaves, so he was a bit of an oddity. People got used to his presence now, though, having kind of become a regular customer. It''s just, no one is sure why he would come here when there are fancier cafes'' than this little bakery run by ex-slaves. Usually, there are kids running around everywhere in this bakery, but today Ms. Camelia took the day off and left Elizabeth¡¯s mother in charge of the store. Ms. Camelia had a lot of children, they weren''t her own but ex-slaves that didn''t have parents. Her house felt like an orphanage, with the number of kids there. Whenever she came to work she would bring a bunch of them, some of the older ones would help around but the little ones just ran around and caused mischief. Ding* Ding*. "Elizabeth, can you take the order?" "Ya, sure." It¡¯s old lady Konoha, she''s a commoner from before, and very nice to the new citizens. She doesn''t discriminate like some of the other commoners. "What would you like today grandma?" Elizabeth said climbing up on the stool beside the counter that her mother and Ms. Camelia used to sit, but she used to stand. "Oh, honey. You helping your mother today?" "Ya." "You''re such a good girl." She started patting her head, this was normal she always did that when she saw Elizabeth. "Thank you." "No need to be so stiff." She said, sighing. Elizabeth didn''t change her attitude, she stood stiff waiting for her order. "I came to buy a birthday cake, it''s my grandson''s eighth birthday." "Okay, 1 cake, what flavor would you like?" Elizabeth was jotting it down. "What''s that honey? I''ll have 4 of those too, 1 of each color please." She was pointing at the Jum cubes, they felt like soft spongy brownies when you bit into them, but tasted of the kind of fruit flavor you added. "Ya, sure." She wrote that down and waited for the grandma to return, she was walking down the little counter looking at all the different baked goods. Leisurely examining the goods she returned to where she began, in front of Elizabeth. "Flavor? I''m not sure which flavor my grandson likes... Hmmm... But everyone loves ognam right?" "Ya." "Alright, I''ll have ognam flavored." "Alright, let me get you the Jum cubes first then I''ll go tell mom." Elizabeth put 4 Jum cubes in the disposable wooden box, and closed it, and handed it to her. "That''ll be 10 bronze." She rummaged through her purse and handed her the small coins. "I''ll go ask mom when you can pick up the cake." Elizabeth jumped down the stool and ran back to her mother. After a moment Elizabeth came running back. "Mom said it''ll be ready by 2." "That''s great honey. I''ll come back in a few hours then." "Ya." With that, the old women left the bakery. Just as the door closed and Elizabeth was about to go back to help her mother, the old man stood up. She stopped in her tracks and stared at him. He put his book in his underarm and came to the counter to return the cup he was using. "Hey, can I have 4 of those... Jum cubes." She picked up the cup, and then put it back down. "Ya, sure." She did the same thing she did for the grandma and gave the box to the old man. The old man put down a single copper coin, took the box and left. "Thanks." She said to his back. That was another thing about this old man, he never paid in bronze, it''s like he didn''t even own a bronze coin, and the lowest coin he has is copper.
Name: Tinkula
Human: 10 Poison Blood:10 Sword: 10
Immortal: 10 Crank:10 Spear: 10
Craftsman: 10 Ouroboros: 10 Nunchaku: 10
Master Craftsman: 10 Berserker: 10 Archery: 10
Ghost Catcher: 10 Spell Caster: 10 Sharp Shooter: 10
Blacksmith: 10 Cooking: 10 Moon Knight: 10
Engineer: 10 Healer: 8 Mountain Man: 10
Mechanical Engineer: 10 Divine Magic: 10 Split: 10
Qi: 10 Guardian: 10 Creator: 2
Karate: 10 Farmer: 2 Samurai: 10
Judo: 10 Echo: 10
Total : 302
Chapter 7: Siblings You don''t have to prostrate like that, even the genuflection the NPCs do is just too much. These guys even went as far as to set up a separate room that resembles a throne room, this is insane. Did the NPCs do this, or did you guys think it would please me? "You may rise." Still kneeling on the floor, why didn''t they put chairs out. I would have told them to sit. Fine, let¡¯s just move on to the main topic. "I got your report Evals Nekorb, it seems business is doing well. Our profits increased again this semester." Should I say something to his wife too? "Yes! It''s all thanks to you Master Yug!" Yug, right, you''re the only human - other than some of the NPCs - I¡¯ve shown this werewolf form to. And you don''t have to shout. I can smell your fear in everything you say. I know I said ''give me everything or die'', and he saw my powers, so I understand the fear. I must seem like Satan in werewolf form. It just grosses me the fuck out. I am a firm believer in ''Give me liberty, or give me death!'', and to see you grovel like this just disgusts me. Shouldn''t you at some point just accept death gracefully, maybe with some dignity. Is it really okay to look so uncool in front of your wife like that? Well, she''s on her knees too. I should have let the NPCs handle it. I wanted to see if you were fine and if the NPCs were doing their job properly, but why does it seem like you''re more scared I''m here than anything. Push on. "I''m very happy with your dedication and hard work." It makes me feel like shit saying that. I don''t deserve to say that. I haven''t worked a proper day in my life. "Thank you, Master Yug!" Don''t. Shout. My. Name. "Relax. The reason I came today is for another matter. I am opening up another branch in Nolybab, I have decided it will be a pharmaceutical branch. With Cobalt you¡¯ve produced some praiseworthy accomplishments, and I would like to try recreating it at another location." Cobalt Medi, a player that has rooted himself in Nadnol City, a player you exclusively have contact with. Someone I rather not approach, his level isn''t high according to the NPCs tailing him but it will cause too much of a stir among this world''s people if he were to just up and disappear. With his value being so high your value has risen as well Evals, of course, you don''t need to know that. "What I want you to do is send 200 pounds of each herb to this address, and also send one of the people Cobalt trained. Someone who can teach the new staff about alchemy and potion mixing. By the way, we¡¯ll be hiring new staff, make sure to send over the needed funds. Until we can get some revenue from there, we¡¯ll have to support everything." I handed him the file as I talked and he still hasn''t looked at it. Listening to me attentively instead, can''t say that''s bad. "That address I gave you is to someone I hired, like you." That made you interested in it, now didn''t it. My clone will play the role of someone you can sympathize with and get closer to, and if I find anything off. Like a plan to betray me, don''t be so sad if your value drops. You don''t know where my cave is, you don''t know where my base is, but you do know there is something lurking in the dark and I can''t have that. So sooner or later I''ll have to kill you in a way that doesn''t leave anything to follow back to me. If possible I would like to do it sooner and at least spare the child your wife is carrying. She didn''t speak at all, just sat there staring at me. Doesn''t really matter to me. ??? Again we are walking through the slums. The same path we took yesterday, and the day before. Today I can sense people following us, and there seems to be a lot more people around the area we met the boy. Passing through the same area, the boy came out of the crowd squeezing in between the people watching us. Pulling his sister''s hand, he comes, they go to work cleaning master''s shoes. Just as yesterday, Master gives the boy a silver coin. This time the girl didn''t seem as scared and came forth and handed him a single flower. Master graciously accepted smiling cheek to cheek. "Would you two like to come to my house for dinner?" An unexpected invitation by Master. I was just as surprised as the children by his words, for they didn''t seem to know what to say. "What, will you not?" Master asked playfully. "My maid is a level 10 cook, I believe she said she''s making Beef cutlet today, wouldn''t you like to taste some? I promise you it''s the best you''ve ever had." Master''s description of tonight¡¯s menu seems to have relaxed the mood. "Is it fine for us to...? Like this." The boy pointed at his dirty clothes. "That''s fine, I don''t mind," Master replied without a pause. The boy nodded his head still a bit hesitant. "Alright follow me, our coach is-" "Sir would you like to have some brownies, I baked them myself." Master''s words were interpreted by a small girl presenting a batch of brownies. We soon noticed that many have gathered around us, waiting in ready to consume us. That''s when my master abandoned me. "Simon, you take care of this. I''ll take the children and go ahead of you." "What! What should I do!?" I¡¯m ashamed, I panicked. "Just give each a silver coin or something. I''ll leave it to you." With that, my Master took out a pouch and tossed it to me. "Please, talk to my butler." He said to the girl loud enough for everyone to hear, and turned to the kids to gesture them to follow him. "Come on, Simon will take care of this." ''Sorry.¡¯ And ¡®Excuse me.'' Master repeated as I watched him squeeze through the people. To the few that tried to follow him, he directed them to me and I was surrounded by children of all ages. While I was handing out money to the children, I noticed a group of men following my master. ?¨‹? "You guys alright?" Did I move too fast? It looked like they sprinted behind me. "Ye-yeah, we''re alright." He says panting like a dog. Well, we''re almost there. I think the kids finally decided to bother Simon instead of us. Then there is the group of people that¡¯s been following us since I entered the slums today; are they supposed to be ninjas? Their levels are really low if they are, they must be thieves with a little bit of skill. "We can walk the rest of the way." Some of them are openly revealing themselves now, I guess they aren''t afraid of me. Even so kind as to wait at my coach. Did the coachman not notice, or did he just ignore them? Coachman is a preeminent summon, from my Alive Again collection. I don''t like using preeminent summons since they¡¯re finite, even though I don''t even know how many I have. There¡¯s a lot of them in the treasury. Whenever I got a summon figure I just tossed it in the treasury. I just liked them because they''re like collecting action figures in the game. They fit in your palm and when you add a little bit of your mana; there you have it a fully grown preeminent summon. The coachman I''m using can easily finish off these fools. Level 200 from the Alive Again collection. The only distinguishing feature from a human are the pins on each of its temples. A Frankenstein¡¯s monster like thing but with the suit and tie, it looks quite normal. It doesn''t even have the yellowish color Frankenstein¡¯s monster had. Did it not notice them, maybe it deemed them too weak to even be considered a threat. "Hey, how about you stop right there." So the guy behind me is the leader, or is he just the spokesmen? There really are a lot of them, a bunch of cats attacking a tiger. Did you just call yourself a tiger? What the fuck is wrong with you? Maybe it''s this body it''s just so bulky, and tall. It just feels odd. "I said don''t move!" I slowed down, didn''t I? Isn''t that enough. The only ones in danger here are the kids. I hate having to protect people. I think I''ll use a temporary summon to fight them, easier to protect when someone else is fighting. "Kids, when the knight clears the path run to the coach." "Did you just tell the kids to run to the coach!? Are you fucken stupid? You think we can''t hear you!? I was going to let you go after you handed over everything, now I''m going to fucken kill you!" His face is boiling red, shouting at the top of his lungs. Hopefully, the kids heard me properly, and be able to act when it counts. With the kids here I should try to talk this out. "I don''t have any money, by the way, I gave it all to my butler." "I saw it! I told you!" Thanks for vouching for me. "He left that butler with the coins! We should have gone after him like I said!" Yes, yes, fight among yourselves, don''t just wave the sword in front of him, and stab him. Just leave me alone and go attack Simon, he''ll take care of you, he''s level 301 after all. Then I don''t have to worry about protecting. "We''ll get the butler after this fucker. Hand over everything you got, and we''ll try to make it painless." He doesn''t mess around with words, cuts straight to business. You have shattered my preconceptions of bandits, or whatever you guys are. Surrounding me with greater numbers yet being this focused and ready to fight me. I thought you guys would be more mocking. I would be more mocking if I was in your position and didn''t have God Eyes. Is it good leadership? Then again this bulky body does make me look threatening, so it kind of makes sense. With God Eyes I can tell that the only one remotely good here is the leader with level 10 in both warrior and the Sword. That''s pretty good for this world, but it won''t even leave a scratch on me. "What the hell you standing there for! Hand your fucken shit over!" He eyed the kids and frowned. "...and we''ll let the kids go." That''s awfully nice of you bandit leader, but that won''t be necessary. For extra theatrics I slammed my cane on the ground and said: "[Summon: Black Knight]" On the ground formed a circle of red flame. In it, the inscription of life itself in wordless symbols joined at the center in red flames. The red flames consumed. Which lit the ancient symbols. Spread through the layers of air above it. Wind froze. Life had vanished and all there was, was the flame. From it, an arm! Burst out from the ground. From the void to life itself. Clutching this world, nothing, and everything. It pulls itself up from nothing into existence. There stands the Black Knight. "Open a path to the coach," I told the knight, and without a word it obeyed my order. Within the moment the bandits were shocked to find a Black Knight burst from the ground, it had already cut them in two. With a single swing, it clears a path to the coach. A path covered in blood and screaming torsos. A path of broken limbs and flesh. "Run!" I commanded the children. They seemed a bit scared of me now, but it couldn''t be helped. The older brother took the lead and pulled his sister through the dead bodies, to the coach ahead. He opened the door of the coach without instructions and jumped in with his sister. Whatever formation the bandits had was now broken, the Knight was protecting the coach from all directions. Keeping all paths to it clear. The bandits were scattering. They took to fleeing than fighting, but I could still sense one man''s presence behind me. So I turned to have a look. He didn''t even seem to care I was here. He was looking at his men fleeing, and then to the corpses laying on the ground. At which point he seemed to have drifted off somewhere. I turned to where he was looking and all I saw was the corpses of bandits that attacked me, but he seemed a bit more discerning. Some of the bandits already got away, so there is no point in killing him anymore.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. There were also some people watching so word of this might get out to whoever, I might not want it to, but there was no helping it now. Maybe I can pass it off as the cane''s power, I probably could make a cane that can temporarily summon a Knight with my Craftsman of Taboo class and Summoner class. I''ll think about that later, for today let¡¯s just deal with the kids and see how it goes. Baby steps. There were no surprise attacks at my back or my sides, they really have just ran without considering putting up a fight. Maybe the speed of the knight gave them no choice, maybe it was their instincts, maybe they didn''t like the odds, maybe they lost all hope. Ku ku ku. I left the dazed man behind me and walked through the mowed path, careful not to step in any puddles of blood. When I opened the coach, I found the little girl crying into her brother''s chest, where he held her tight, trying to comfort. "Sorry, you had to see that." I tried to say as sincerely as I could. "It was just the best way to deal with them and protect you." That was true, but I don''t know how they''ll take it. They both seem a bit scared, the problem is if they became too scared to trust me. I want to say: let''s forget about that and think about food. That''ll just make me look too inhumane. "Let''s go somewhere safer. My knight will protect us if they try to attack the carriage." That''s not a good reaction to the word ''knight'', I''m protecting you, god fucking dammit. "T-thank you." The boy said in a very timid voice. So they can show appreciation. "Don''t concern yourself with it." If he can say thanks, that means I can still talk to him. Technically it''s my fault for getting them caught up in the middle of all that, to begin with so I shouldn''t expect much of thanks, and the bandit did say he would let them go... Given I handed over everything. I gave a short command to the coachman to take us home, the new mansion we bought only a day ago, and turned back to the kids. Should I do something about the girl? It¡¯s good that she at least stopped crying. I should have the maid take care of her, I''m not good with kids. It probably isn¡¯t good to talk about business today either, we can talk about that tomorrow. I really wanted to get it over with today too, but they''re probably tired. Fucking bandits. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "We''re almost there." They seem a bit better now, talking with the boy about my Summoner class was a good idea. Explaining some of that technical stuff about magic seemed to have calmed them down a bit. I only saw the Summoner class in this world on a few people, and the highest of them only had level 3. That reminds me of that shitty Sorcerer, I wonder how they''re preparing for the fight to come. The coachman stopped and got off to open the gate to the mansion since we haven''t hired a man to do it yet. Then we rode in and had to stop again when he needed to close the gate. I really need to hire a... door opener, gate opener, whatever they''re called. When we turned into the front of the mansion, and the kids could see it through the coach windows. The boy excitedly asked: "That''s where you live!?" "Yeah, I just bought it, though." Should I be proud and boast about it, or not put too much emphasis on my wealth. I do want him to envy it that will make my offer more tantalizing. "Is it because you''re a Summoner?" The boy looked at me with wide sparkling eyes. The little sister watching her brother was being taken in by the brother¡¯s mood, sticking close to him. So if I can win the brother over, I can win her over too. "That isn''t the case, but being a Summoner did help." My talk of Summoners must have interested him, maybe enlighten him. Ku ku ku. "Hum~ let¡¯s go in. We can talk about that more in time." Maybe it''s because he''s weak. Then having seen my power and being told how I got it, got him aroused. Am I reading too much into this? He was very attentive when I was talking about the Summoner class. What would Simon say; he''s a private-contrarian, no matter what you say they''ll disagree with you. It''s good to have a few people like that around you, maybe. Especially if you have a certain amount of power it feels like you should have someone like that around you; just to keep you in check. At least that¡¯s what I thought when I was back on earth and didn¡¯t have any power myself, I suppose I shouldn¡¯t become a hypocrite now. Though I think Simon held back because I''m his master. But was there, that much of a flaw in my judgment that he needed to disagree with me; maybe I should ask him to explain further the next time he disagrees. I don''t mind being told I''m wrong. I''ve been wrong before, and I don''t mind being wrong. Okay, I do mind being wrong but it happens, but explain to me why I''m wrong. When I opened the door for them, the kids jumped out, and I followed behind them. The boy seemed to be in admiration of my powers and belongings, but the girl still seems a bit wary of me. I am not sure if she was like that with everyone or just me who killed a bunch of bandits without batting an eye. Hopefully, since they were bad guys she will grow to accept me. Since I used the Knight, hopefully, there is a sense of dissociation between me and the murderer... hopefully. At the top of the stairs stood Iru, my maid, she had a tanned complexion with black hair and indigo eyes. "Kids this is my maid: Iru. Introduce yourselves." They were confused for a second but did as told. "My name is Emmanuel Nixon, and this is my little sister Emily." The boy said pushing the shy girl in front. "How cute!" Iru exclaimed hugging the little things. "How old are you guys?" Her tone had completely changed from how she talked to me normally. "I''m 10, and my sister''s 6." "Ahh~ So cute~ she''s so shy." She said reaching for the girl. "Iru, how about you prepare some tea and snacks for them, they''re tired from the journey." The journey might not be what made them tired, it is fatigue none the less. "Yes, Master Derraacs." She said sounding a bit dejected before heading in. The kids followed the maid after I gave a gesture. Iru guided them to the living room where we can sit and converse, then went to the kitchen to bring us our tea, and snacks as I had instructed. The kids sat across from me quietly. They must be a bit perplexed, inviting two dirty kids to a mansion for dinner, and then saying let''s have some tea. We still have some time to go before dinner, so I''ll have to waste time somehow. I just have to pass a few hours and slowly ease the boy into the main business at hand. "That reminds me I haven''t properly introduced myself have I. I am Derraacs Dlab. I''m opening a new pharmacy store in the capital, and I was hoping the both of you can help me." They seem a bit confused, the girl doesn''t even know what''s going on. Kids pick up on emotional cues more than reason, but the boy seems to understand what I''m saying. I heard somewhere that kids adapt, become more mature if they¡¯re forced to, might be traumatizing situations. This kid must have had some tough times. Hopefully, this goes well, I''m feeling a bit nervous. "My mother died when I was young, my little brother and I couldn''t afford the medications she needed. I firmly believe poverty breeds disease. My mother died because we were poor. My brother died because I couldn''t protect him. Th- Places like the slums just... Sorry, I''m going off topic. Oh- good Iru, you''re back with the tea." I think being nervous about lying helped this instant, made me sweat. I must''ve seemed nervous talking about this. "Let''s forget about what I just said and enjoy tea." That was all for the boy, I even added in a little brother so it matches with the little sister. I don''t know how their parents died, but from what I learned on the ride here, they''re both dead. "Sorry about that, it''s just seeing you reminds me of myself. Especially after I saw your sister the other day, it reminded me of my little brother." "It''s fine." The boy said sympathizing. "So I just had to invite you both to my home." "Thank you." The boy expressed genuine gratitude, he even got off the sofa to bow his head. It was kind of cute how the little sister got confused for a moment before jumping down from the sofa herself and followed her brother¡¯s example of bowing the head. Excellent. Ku ku ku. "There is no need for you to do that. I was just being selfish. That said I would like you both to at least stay the night here, I don''t even want to think what will happen if the both of you were to run into those bandits we encountered earlier." I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll do anything but it¡¯s a good excuse to get them to stay. "Thank you." He seems more thankful than surprised, I guess they expected this. If I was in their shoes, I guess I would hope for something along these lines as well. Though I wouldn''t trust some random rich guy; is that just my trust issues or are they the strange ones. "Master if they''re staying the night shouldn''t we get them something better to wear?" The boy was wearing a dirty shirt too large for him, with plenty holes. The little sister was wearing a pink dress, which was in the same condition as her brother¡¯s shirt and shorts. "Hmm... Iru you have a point, get them something suitable." "I think what we have is too big for them Master." Did she think of something from her closet? "I meant you may take them shopping Iru." She¡¯s acting hesitant. What¡¯s wrong with her today? "Is there a problem, are you low on funds?" "No! That''s not it, I''d love to but I''m cooking dinner right now, and I..." "Yes. I understand I''ll ask the coachman." I didn''t give him a name since I summoned him. "Ah... I''m-We... Master is very kind but we couldn''t-" The boy was all over the place, I could clearly see that he didn¡¯t want to refuse but was trying out of some obligation of some kind. A sense of manners. "Think nothing about it. I never had the chance to have children of my own so let me have some fun." I said slyly with a smile which could be interpreted as many things. "Come on don''t be so shy," I said patting his head. Then I took them to the coach and told the coachman to take them shopping. Giving him more than enough coins to spend. I watched the coach for a few moments before I went back in. That coach might look like a regular coach. Looking a little worse than the coach''s noble¡¯s use, but in terms of defensive power, it would be much stronger. It has all the important items we brought from the base stored away in secret compartments. It is much safer in that coach than in this mansion. The mansion wasn''t built with magical defense, and anything we might add won''t raise it to the level I want. I gave instructions to Iru to bathe and dress the kids when they get back before I escaped to my office. There were still a lot of things to be done about the pharmaceutical store. I had narrowed down my pick of the possible buildings I wanted to buy. There was still a need to figure out how much renovation these places would need, and how much time it would all take. If more recourses are needed I would have to send word to the Cave, so calculating all this ahead of time was important. This entire mansion was currently run by the butler Simon, the maid Iru, the summoned coachman, and me. We clearly need more hands, I am still deciding on whether to hire more from this world or use NPCs. There was a lot to do but I decided to waste time reading a fantasy novel I been meaning to read since I was on earth but never got around to. I didn''t want to start on any of the other stuff now since I only had a few hours and by the time I start it, it would already be time for dinner. Simon came back all covered in blood while the children were out. I''m glad because I didn''t want the children seeing that. Apparently, some of the bandits gained back their courage after the Knight disappeared. Though it doesn''t seem their courage lasted long. "Master Derraacs if you don''t mind I''ll be taking a bath." He said and walked away after I gave him a silent nod. When the children came back I didn''t really feel like going downstairs, I was right in the middle of this good part. It seems Iru took care of it without me because after 30 minutes or so Simon came to report about the children. He doesn''t bathe for long does he, like soldiers who only take 3-minute showers. 1 wet, 2 soap, 3 rinse off; though there aren''t showers in this world unless you count the crudely made ones by poor people. There was still some time before it was dinner time, I should be entertaining the guests but having been kind of a shut in all my life back on earth it''s just bothersome to go downstairs. I check in on everything every now and then with my Monk class. It allows me to sense my surroundings with sound, Ki, air pressure, and all that kind of stuff. I can tell where they are, what they''re doing, and hear what they are saying if I focus. It works within a range, with me being the center of a spear. My office is right in the middle of the mansion so it covers most of the mansion, the edges are a bit fussy. The kids were both with Iru, helping out with the kitchen, the girl actually seems to be getting along with her. They''re the guests but I don¡¯t really care if they wanted to help, so I went back to my book. Then a knock on my office came unexpectedly. I checked with my monk class and sensed it was the boy. Not sure what he¡¯s here for, I put the book I was reading in the top drawer of my desk and opened up the brown file with important papers dealing with Violet Wood. After spreading a few papers on the desk from the stack of paper in the file, I said: "Come in." "Hi Master Derraacs, can I talk to you." "Of course, come... have a seat," I said guiding him with my hand to the chair in front of my desk. Then I went about collecting all the papers I spread, put them back in the order they were and closed the brown file. "Mast-" "You don''t need to call me Master, you''re my guest." "Ah- Mr. Derraacs I know this might be asking too much, b-but I noticed there aren''t a lot of people here... and I was wondering... I want to work here!" He wants to rush this more than me, I was going to ask tomorrow. "Emmanuel-" "I can help out with cooking, cleaning, run errands; I''ll work hard... s-so-" "Emanuel you don''t have to say anymore, really you beat me to the punch. You and your sister can stay here as long as you want, this might be a bit much to take in but I think of you both as my children. I''m going too far.¡± I act embarrassed to let myself seem more human. ¡±It''s just I never had children of my own, adopting children is..." Even though I planned to say that to gain their trust, I really do feel awkward and shy saying this. Try to push on Verra, to the last part, that¡¯s all that matters. "But Emanuel there is something only you can do for me... You can refuse if you want to because it is a bit dangerous." If you refuse I''m going to kill both you and your sister to erase the evidence. "Let me start by asking: have you seen this before?" I took out a small pouch and dumped some of it out on the table. A small orange powder hill formed on my table. "Do you know what this is?" The way he reacted with confusion and a little bit of fear told me he did. "Looks like you do know. Then let me explain; this causes a disease in those who use it. If you really know what this is then you know what happens to people who use it, or worse if they tried to stop using it after they started." It''s called withdrawal symptoms but in a world without science hopefully my story will work. "I know someone is spreading it in the slums, spreading this disease. I want your help to cure it. This isn''t the same ''orange'' as the ones they sell in the slums, it''s a bit different and that''s the problem. I want to get my hands on the slum''s orange so I can develop a cure for the people. To create this antidote I need more of orange, a lot more. They use kids to sell them, and that''s where you come in; I was hoping you could become my spy, and lead me to their supplier, the manufacturer. I know that''s a lot to take in and I also want to tell you that I don''t plan on sending off right away, certainly not. Sending my child to some dangerous place without preparing them is just... I want to teach you summoning, that way even if you run into anything you can protect yourself. So what do you say, do you want to work for me. It will be a great help and you would be helping me cure this world of a major disease. I want to cure poverty, I want to cure the slums, but I won''t push it down on you. I am also hoping to turn the people behind spreading this disease into the authorities. So what do you say, you up for it?" Best tactic: bombard them with too much information, emphasis points they''ll like, like teaching summoning and push at the end. He really did perk up for a moment when I mentioned summoning. "It''s a disease." When the boy said that he seemed like he was looking somewhere really far away. You wouldn''t think a 10-year-old kid could see that far. He repeated the word ''disease'' under his breath, saddened by this revelation. "You would also be helping in catching these bad men who spread it around. I won''t let you go until I think you''re ready, I''ll train you in summoning and the sword." "Mr. Derraacs I''ll do it, but... my sister-" "You don''t have to worry about a thing, Iru will teach her how to read and write. She''ll also teach her math and magic, of course, I won''t let such a young girl go out and do something this dangerous. This is between us men." I said holding my hand out, and sure enough, the boy took it firmly. Agreed upon a handshake. Makes me wonder why I was worried at all, worried about fooling a 10-year-old. "Now, how about we go enjoy Iru''s cooking." He responded with a bright smile. I left my office without cleaning the orange hill on my desk. Which just made me wonder why orange things are always named orange. Though orange the color was named after orange the fruit, so maybe it was all just my imagination. Such needless worries. Chapter 8: Dungeon "Zejimal, how is the training going?" "Hmm..." I''ve been trying to train these youngsters with everything I got, but they are nowhere near ready! They wouldn''t be able to stand 10 seconds against the king, even with all them ganging up. Even if they trained 100 years like this they will never be ready, that power just wasn''t human. Hmm... I even moved into this estate to train the troops, and this is the result. "If you''re worried about them matching up with the king, don''t. Leave that to William''s Golem." Am I that easy to read? Even if I am, this damn Sorcerer! Hmm... "You trust him that much?" I can''t trust him. What do you see in him that I don''t? It¡¯s my gut feeling, something about him is just off. "I don''t know how to explain this to you because you never saw it." ...What didn¡¯t I see now? Speaking in puzzles, this Sorcerer. "Just spit it out Sorcerer." "Let me try to explain. I have a very powerful item that if I were able to use, I believe it can kill the Red King." "What!? The-then why-" "Let me finish. I can''t use it, I don''t have enough mana to use it. When William came to me, he had a similar item. Now if that person says, he has another item that is just as powerful and can be used, would you not be inclined to believe them. Now the only real mystery is how he was able to get it, those glasses for that matter as well." Hmm... "I see. That makes sense. You aren''t considered a genius for nothing." What''s with that smirk¡­? Don¡¯t let the word genius go to your head. "I am curious about how he got his hands on these items, and how he''s able to use them. Whether he wants to tell me or not is up to him. What¡¯s important to me right now is taking back our country." "You say some nice words, Sorcerer." Don''t pat my shoulder, I¡¯m not a youngster anymore. My pupils are watching. Hmm... I know you''re older than me, but we look about the same age now. "Then there are no problems Sorcerer. The Red King¡¯s batch of untrained fools, and slaves he calls his soldiers are no match for my men." ??? "They''re spreading those posters everywhere." The lady with the bun hair complained in a half-whisper that let everyone in the bakery here. "Oh honey tell me about it, my little boy came home with one of those 2 days ago saying he wanted to join. I had to break down crying, to get him out of it." The one with the large breasts and short blonde haircut voiced her worry. "Imagine if the king starts conscripting." The skinny black haired one said, trying to excite the conversation with newer fears, in an attempt to seem sharper than the rest. "That''s terrible!" The large breasted lady took the bait as she considered the possibility. "Why do we need so many soldiers all of a sudden?" She continued to inquire the state of the country she suddenly found herself in. "Haven''t you heard? The Omron Church is demanding the slaves back, we might go to war." The women with the bun hair enlightened the rest in her half whisper. "Aren''t we allied with the Beastman nation: Jak; don''t they know fighting us will just get the beastmans mad too." The skinny one said intellectually as if to now calm the situation. "The beastmans aren''t that happy with the king either, taking in the human slaves that run into our country. We''re helping slaves escape from both sides, so even if the beastmans¡¯ are allied with us for freeing some of the beastmans, they still wouldn''t send their soldiers over." The bun-haired lady gave her insight, in her half-whispered speak that seems to suggest everything she ever says is gossip. "We should just give them their slaves back." The large breasted lady said having had enough with the slaves. A tray was slammed down on the table in front of them, the contents of the tray wobbled and spilled, but nothing broke. "Here''s your tea Madams!" Ms. Camelia can be quite naughty when she wishes. The talk of the commoners upset her, for they know not the plight of slaves. For some moments the women stared at her in silence as Ms. Camelia walked away, a bit shocked. This silence was broken by the large breasted one. "I''m just worried about my boy. I don''t want him getting conscripted!" She hollered her motherly concerns to the woman who vanished into the kitchen. Soon the conversation started a new, the topic has changed to complaints of customer service. Questions such as "Is this how they treat their customers?" seemed to float in the air and ripple. "The King isn''t going to conscript." A voice came from across the caf¨¦ bakery. A young woman who had red hair, wore black square framed glasses and dressed in adventuring gear looked at the 3 women, chewing her Jum cubes. "He''s just looking for volunteers." The women assured them again, having finished her Jum cubes. She went on to say, with a smile and what can be considered a woman''s charm; energetic and optimistic. "So you mothers don''t have to worry." Their anger calmed a bit by the girl''s charms and was replaced with quizzical expressions. "How can you be so sure?" The large breasted one inquired, and behind her two bobbleheads nodded along with the same thought. "Umm... Because I knew him from before he became a king, I guess. Though I haven''t seen him in a while, but I just don''t think he''ll do that." She replied in a casual tone, making a show of putting her finger to the side of her lips and tilting her head, as a joke. The ladies seemed a bit shocked and delighted, having talked to a person in touch with the biggest celebrity in this country. "You know the king, The Red King. King Tinkula?" This time the skinny one inquired before the big breasted one could. "Yeah, but like I said I haven''t seen him in a while." "That''s amazing!" "How did you meet him?" "Yeah, what¡¯s he like?" All three of them suddenly bombarded her with questions. She smiled and waved her hands to dismiss them, trying to play down the whole thing. Even some of the cafe employees were getting into it, asking her all kinds of questions. Some of the kids that hung around the caf¨¦ staff started getting excited too, having sensed the atmosphere more than anything. They shouted things out loud, disregarding the line of questions. "How strong was the king?" "Does he have a pet?" Their questions seemed to range to everything and anything on their minds. Having had enough, the old man sitting in the corner trying to read his book got up. Returning the porcelain cup, he left the cafe without saying a word. ??? Today I¡¯ll spend some time with the girls, take it easy, maybe go to the beach and bathe in the sun, the possibilities are endless. Did tea always taste this good? Such innocent thoughts floated through my mind as I watched Grayson give me his usual serious stare. "Today''s my day off Grayson. Why''re you here?" That annoying stare, I must ignore. Today I ignore. "Being your butler means being with you even on your days off your Majesty." True, butlers are there to help their master. I''m a master. Gi gi gi. "Is that so?" I am feeling good about today, maybe Grayson is finally learning to be a true butler. "But that''s not why I''m here today." I knew it! I knew it was too good to be true, lying bastard. "Well, whatever it is I''ll look into it tomorrow. Today''s my day off." The king has spoken! Now go away. "King''s don''t have days off your Majesty." "Then why did I sign up for this job!? Huh? As the king, I declare that from this day forth king''s shall have days off! Well there you have it, I have passed a new law. Now that that''s settled, good day Grayson." I wave to him away, but he doesn''t go away. I shoo at him but he still doesn''t go away, annoying fox. Ignore, ignore, ignore all the bad things in life. "Your Majesty, the guards say there might be movement within the city." Movement within the city? "The Nolybab are in the City!?" Holy Christ, is the war already here. A sneak attack! I threw my porcelain cup into the dish washing area breaking it, but it wasn''t the time to be worried about that, I must get ready. "No, your majesty, it isn''t the Nolybab." What''s going on!? "Then who''s attacking?" "No one your Majesty." "I broke my tea¡­ The sun is barely out. I had to sneak here without the maids noticing, all to enjoy a normal day. So explain to me slowly what''s going on?" This better be something serious. Wait. No, that would be bad. "I didn''t think your majesty would react like that. You broke your cup." What''s with the smirk asswipe. "Ha~ Hu~ Yes as I was saying, your Majesty, the guards suspect movement within the city from the rebellion. They aren''t sure who the leader is, but they suspect it might be the Core Sorcerer."This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The Core Sorcerer. Oh him, he was always talking to the old king; he never talked to me, though. He was also there for the festival. "Why does he want to rebel? I never did anything to him, I even left the nobles untouched, and they¡¯re the ones who wanted to leave after I made slavery illegal." I know there was some other complicated political stuff, but I still left his estate alone, didn''t I? That freaking huge estate. "Your Majesty, you can''t be serious. The Core Sorcerer: Danial, was one of the closest friends to the previous king: Kcuftaf. Not to mention he was one of the most influential people in this city before your Majesty took over. He lost his powerful position, his slaves. He¡¯s also well known for being cruel to the slaves, and his hatred towards beastman." He stopped speaking, but he was giving me a look that said ''need I continue''. "Alright, alright... I see. Then why wasn''t he exiled like the princess or imprisoned like the others who committed these crimes?" He gave me a look like ''are you seriously asking me that?'' "Are you seriously asking me that?" Oh, he actually said it. "You''re the one who pardoned them, your Majesty. If I remember your words correctly, you said something along the lines of ''as long as they are willing to follow my rules from now on we''ll give them a second chance.'' Then something like, ''Grayson discrimination is born from ignorance. As humans and beastmans learn to work together and get to know each other they will realize the differences between them are insignificant. So let''s give them a second chance even if they committed some crimes before.''" What I said that, well they sound like good words in theory, but people are assholes. As I''m growing older am I getting more cynical or wise? "Then why did I imprison some people?" "Because they broke your law, your Majesty." I see, second chances not third. Now he''s giving me look like ''Am I serving an idiot?'' The sun is barely out man. I''m still feeling like shit and I didn''t get to have enough fluids in me yet. Give me a break, man. "Alright, let me have some breakfast first." Then I''ll think of something. Worst possible time for this shit to happen, my day off. Fuck. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ They were both waiting for me in my office, ready to work, always ready to work. I took my seat at my desk, and Emali took her seat at her small desk beside my large desk. Grayson, if he was a good butler he should stand beside me, but he sits on a chair in front of my desk. Since Emali is the one who reads all the documents to me, brown files are stacked on her desk and on the floor surrounding her desk while my desk is clean enough to eat off of. The maids are doing a good job. "Should we start with the report that the guard sent in?" When Emali asked, she looked to Grayson. "No, let''s not. I want to start with how the recruiting is going for the army. I know we only started, but how are the numbers looking? Do we know?" Rebellion or whatever is problematic, but I''m facing 10 times the people over there. "Ha~ um..." She hummed as she went through the stacks of files, flipping open the cover one after another just to check its contents. "Let''s see, ah~ here it is. It says here that we have... recruited 321 volunteers." It¡¯s only been about a week or so, so it isn''t that bad right? "The total is 10,321 armed forces." You didn''t need to add that part. When you add that part, it loses meaning! "Is it improving, are more people joining every week? Why aren''t people joining? Is the word just not gotten around yet? What the hell is going on!?" Emali is giving me a weird look, a scared look. I''m shouting, she hasn''t seen me shouting before, I never had to in this world. The last time I shouted like this was probably when I argued with the previous king, and it all ended eventually with me killing him. I, a single man, holds a lot of power in this world, this weird world. Of course, it would frighten her if I shout. But those eyes, she must know me by now, there is no reason to be frightened of me like that, don''t look at me like that. "Sorry, I shouted, I shouldn''t have done that. I..." Panicked. "...was out of line. Sorry. So only 300... Is there any way we can improve those numbers?" I asked them both because I can''t come up with anything. This is the biggest obstacle since I took over this country, but a good leader doesn''t panic. I guess I have a long way to go before I become a good leader. "I would say we should hire mercenaries on a large, but given how our treasury is running dry that''s isn¡¯t advisable... So the only thing I can think of is, asking the Beast King for assistance." Our relations with them is purely based on trade, they won''t help us fight our wars. That said there is no point giving up before trying. "Alright, I doubt they''re going to help but there''s no harm in trying," I said probably sounding a bit cynical, but I know I shouldn''t act cynical when it comes to these things. "Grayson, get Robert, he''ll be our messenger again. Emali write the best, ''I request the assistance of...'' I don''t know just make asking for help sound good. I know it''s a hard job, so don''t worry about all of this..." I pushed back my chair, got out of my desk, went to hers, and removed the stack of paper on her desk to mine. "Don''t worry about any of that, it''s not important, we can deal with that later. And Grayson, get some guards to go over to the Sorcerer¡¯s estate, tell them to check it out and report anything they find suspicious. If they don¡¯t find anything, invite the Sorcerer to the castle for some tea, I don''t care when let him decide. I just want to have a talk with him. You two do that while I try to figure out¡­ something..." I burst out of my office, speed walking I make down the hall. The maids flinched as I whooshed past them. I heard footsteps follow me, he was almost sprinting to catch up with me. "Your majesty where are you going!?" Grayson shouted from behind, failing to keep up. I stopped suddenly, to turn and look him in the eye. "Grayson, I want you to go get Robert, and pass my message on to the guards." He looks a bit hesitant to follow my orders, it seems he has a question some question at the tip of his tongue. But not right now, I don¡¯t want deal with that. "Grayson that''s an order." I gave him that final push. "Yes! Your Majesty. But you''re not thinking of taking a day off?" Huh? "Gi gi gi, of course not. You think we have time for that now. Thanks, I needed that, I was feeling a bit tense. Now go do your job." "Yes!" He replied and hastened off. Am I that lazy that he thinks I''ll take a break even in this crisis? For the past week and a half I been relaxing too much thinking the volunteer program would work, but not anymore. I haven''t felt like this¡­ since then. A year ago when I had to free the slaves, now I have to defend the slaves. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ In this castle, at the corner, even past the doors down to the wine cellar is a very nice ebony double door, which fits in well with this castle. Within those doors at the other end of the room is the eeriest and most archaic door in the whole castle, and it leads to my most hated part of this castle. The door itself is a beauty`, black and brown, rusted corners, with enough scratches and dents to make a boxers punching bag worry. "Open it," I commanded the guards in front of it. As soon as it opens, the stench of feces, urine, and death invade my nostrils. Everything mixes in the air to make even me, who has poison resistance, feel dizzy and nauseated. Winding stairs, lit only by dim lanterns spaced too far apart to provide any comfort lead to what is this castle¡¯s dungeon. An area for prisoners of the nation to be locked up and tortured. This country had capital punishment, and they used it plentifully before my rule, so you could imagine why they send people here. Down below, the rusted jail bars, unidentified dripping liquids, plants that don¡¯t need sunlight, and puddles of shit and urine greeted me. Most of the cells are empty now. After I came into power, I freed most of the people that were locked up here, for who knows how long, and banned its use for the most part. That being the case, there are still a few people here that I just didn''t know what to do with. Their cells were in the deepest parts. Their cells were cleaned regularly under my orders. I even allowed lighting, and books, if they wanted it, most were illiterate though and books are an expensive commodity. My hope was to turn this dungeon into a regular prison on earth, but I hated visiting this place because I know that will never happen. This is where nightmares are born. The people in the cells were an odd kind if I can put it that lightly. They were slaves, but for unknown reasons tried to protect their masters, their cruel masters. They opposed my rule and wished to remain their master''s slave. They were scarred from beatings and whippings. I remember one of them had an eye missing, a present his master''s child. I learned quite a bit about their condition before I locked them up here, and the only word I could use to describe them was insane. They must have heard me coming this way for when I passed their cells they were by their bars staring at me. Some extending their arms through the gaps to reach me, they pleaded for their masters back, and as I passed them ignoring their pleas their words soon turned into crude insults and angry barks. I left them in their state of chaos to head further down, to the deepest part of this dungeon. There behind those bars, in the last cell, was a beastman, a kind of dog beastman. He had fur all over his body, it was of a dark yellowy-gold, his face resembled a bulldog at best, but that dark golden fur made him look uncategorized. When he saw me he closed his book and put it to the side. "I knew something different was coming when I heard the others get all excited, but the king himself. Ba ba ba¡­" He got up and walked towards me, his body was one of those fat but strong builds, a round belly, and thick arms. There''s a stub where one of his ears should be, chopped off in a ragged way. "Hey Flubo, it''s been a while." "Yes, it has. So what does his majesty wish of me?" Flubo the Slave, Slave Maker; that''s what he was called. It¡¯s just as the name says, he was a slave himself, but he was also a man who trained new slaves. If you can use the word trained to describe the things they did. You could say he worked up the company ladder to the highest position a slave could hold. The others that were in the same position as him, I had the new citizens decide their punishment. The others were all humans, they were part of the merchants, the slave market; I couldn''t show sympathy to them, no I didn''t want to show sympathy to them. Maybe it was hypocritical of me to let the nobles and lawmakers who made all this possible go while I punished those people selling and torturing people, but that''s just how it happened, and I don''t regret it. Flubo was an exception from both, he was a slave, who helped make slaves. Interrogating him didn''t reveal anything new, but he wasn''t like the rest of the slaves down here, there was intelligence in his eyes. He said he did everything to help himself, for selfish reasons; he betrayed his kind to get a slightly better life. That was all. "The Nolybab Kingdom wants war." "Bababababa... And what do you want from me?" "Just your opinion, nothing else. Just need something to jog my mind." "Ba ba ba, as funny as ever king. Sure, sure, I''ll oblige. I¡¯ve been getting a bit lonely down here anyway; books can only do so much. How about you send a few bitches over in return for my humble ''opinion''?" "No." "Ba ba ba, I was only joking, no need to be so serious. Bababawaba..." "Flubo, I''m trying to recruit soldiers for the army." "Oh, how is that going?" He had a smirk that said he knew the answer. "Not well." "Babababab... I expected as much." He said after he finished laughing. "There are slaves running here from both sides, our population is increasing at an alarming rate." Or it did for a while now it''s slowed down a bit. Probably because of measures, that were taken by the other countries to keep their slaves in. I''m disgusted by myself that I could feel relieved by it. Flubo was looking at me with a ''so what?'' expression. "I''m wondering why more people aren''t joining the army since our population has increased so much." Flubo appeared to be thinking as he rubbed his chin. "You want to know why the slaves aren''t joining." Since you¡¯re an expert when it comes to this, I thought I¡¯ll ask you. I think I already know the answer, and what I really want to know is how to attract more ex-slaves to the army. "Babababa... You¡¯re a bigger idiot that I thought you were king if you have to come to me for that." "Will you stop fucken laughing!" "Did I make the king angry?" He said playfully, clearly to anger me. "If you don''t want to help me that''s fine," I said calming myself, knowing full well losing my anger would not help me here. "Yes, I want to know why there aren''t more ex-slaves joining. Or maybe in other words, why aren¡¯t they more angry with this world." Flubo was looking down on me that was the feeling I got, like if he knew something I didn''t. "Why aren''t there more jumping at this chance, the chance to get their revenge? Would that be more accurate?" ¡°Yeah, that might be it." I believed Grayson when he said he wanted to fight and that there would be more ex-slaves like him. But 300 is too small, with the rate of immigrants coming into the country. "Babababab...." That horrible laugh again. When he stopped his laughing he walked back to his seat and plopped down. "Well, you came to the right guy. But, I don''t know if I can~ just help you for free." I just turned around right there, if this fat-ass didn''t want to help I wasn''t going to try to convince him. I just didn''t have the time for that. Robert should be waiting for me back at my office. "Wait! Wait. Alright, I''ll help, I was just joking don''t take everything so seriously." Fine, go ahead enlighten me with your words. I took back the few steps I had taken back. "I was just going to ask for some fried fish.¡± His expression changed instantly. ¡°Do you think it''s that simple?" His tone changed drastically with that question. "You see those people back there, they''re the finished product." He said pointing to something behind me. "That was my job. That was what all of us working for the merchants were trying to create. A loyal slave." He sighed deeply. "They might be able to run and hid behind you, cower behind you, but they''re nothing by themselves. They''re whole ability to live freely depend on you, you a single being." "That¡¯s going a bit-" "Oh don''t pretend like you don''t know, your new citizens, the old slaves. They might seem free but up here, there not." He said poking at his own head. ¡°That might be true for some of them. Yes, some might still be scared, but millions. That''s how many slaves that have immigrated to our country in the last year." "I don''t think you understand me." He said looking impatient with me, which annoyed me. Today has been an annoying day. "Do you know how to get more slaves to join the fight or not?" "You¡¯re asking too much king, I don''t even know, if you know, what you''re asking me. How would I know, how to inspire a bunch of slaves to stand up for themselves. Well if the slave ''trainers'' were as good as I was, you should give up. That''s my only advice." This has been a very unproductive talk, I thought him being a former slave and a slave ''trainer'' as he put it, his insights might help in the recruiting process, but I suppose I was wrong. "Thanks for nothing." I turned around and left, I heard a delayed "you''re welcome" shouted back at me. Followed by his stupid laugh. Chapter 9: Talk A knock came from my hotel room door around midnight. When I opened it, a young lady wearing a hood stared back at me. Blue eyes, dark blue hair, and she wore a black robe with strange designs around the sleeves and edges. "William Shipudan?" She asked in a quiet voice having studied me. "Yeah, can I ask who you are? Why you¡¯re here in the middle of the night?" "Let me inside." I would shut the door, not giving an answer and demanding entrance, but I could guess who send her. Before I could even give her an answer she pushed herself in. She proceeded to the windows, parting the curtains, scanning the streets below. I closed the door and watched her as she moved about, from one side of the room to another, she looked everywhere. Opening up the closet and bathroom. At Random corners of the room, she cast incantations. Illumines magic circles that appeared in the air and the words she spoke resembled the spells for obstructing spies. After a good 5 minutes went by she was finally done. "I''m the 3rd and most talented apprentice of the Core Sorcerer Danial Eustace." She quite seriously said, as if, it was a matter of fact. "I''m here to escort you." "Escort me..." I thought he might contact me more since I told him where I¡¯m staying, and I was glad when he didn''t. But it seems that has come to an end. "Yes, Master Danial would like to meet you before the Golem reaches the country." "Alright, then escort away." She nodded her head, and took out a red chalk¡­ or maybe a crayon. Then proceeded to draw a circle on the floor. While drawing patterns inside the circle she explained. "I''m not able to teleport without drawing the circle like Master Danial, so excuse me for a moment." As I realized she was going to take some time drawing the minute details of for this spell, I took a seat. This is the self-proclaimed best apprentice? ¨‹¨‹¨‹ When we eventually transported to the hidden hallway of the Sorcerer¡¯s estate there was the old adventurer looking man, Zejimal, and the Sorcerer himself standing in front of us. As if they waited there the entire time for us to pop up. Soon as the Sorcerer saw me he started talking. "William, I''m so glad you can make it. We have an emergency on our hands. That king sent a few guards over to investigate." "We''ve been found out!" The little lady shouted it seems they hadn''t told her anything either. "No. Um... I can''t be sure but I don''t think we have been completely exposed. All they were able to find was that some of the adventures were training, but we passed it off as just wanting some tutelage from the great adventurer Zejimal here." "So. So what does this mean for us, for the rebellion?" The young woman sounded quite concerned. If it''s exposed then I better abandon you all as well, there will be other opportunities to kill the player; can''t expose my involvements here. If he realizes a player is helping then it could turn out bad. "Hmm... The Red King has requested an audience with Danial." "What should we do master?" She¡¯s more panicked than the Sorcerer. She''s more of a teacher''s pet than the best disciple, teacher¡¯s number one pet. "Stop being so worried Ilmey. This Red King is a coward, he won''t act. I''ll go talk to him and be back in no time." The Sorcerer wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. "Now tell me which route they''ll be coming in, your subordinates? They''ll be arriving here tomorrow, correct?" The urge to kill him intensified. I made sure not to look him in the eye, because if I did, he''d know I''m disgusted by his existence. "Yes. They''ll reach the northern part of the country sometime tomorrow morning. Then they''ll travel east along the border to reach here. As I had instructed them." "Hmm..." Zejimal seemed a bit worried, but Danial spoke up for him. "Zejimal will meet them beyond the border if he leaves now then he should be able to intersect them before they reach the border. If the guard watchtowers spot something suspicious heading to my estate right now it might get reported to the king." "William¡­ can you¡­ Hmm¡­ send a message telling them to stop near the crossroads between Tengai and Nadnol?" Zejimal asked looking down on me. "No, I can''t." I could but I''m not a mage in this disguise, and I didn''t feel like making up another fake item just for their convenience. "Hmm..." "Then you''ll have to go with Zejimal. And Zejimal, if the guards spot the carriage take it back into the forest." He just turned and started talking to Zejimal, ignoring whatever else I could say. Why do I feel like these bastards are using me when I''m the one using them. "Hmm... Will the carriage be able to?" "I don''t care, I don''t want all the guards knowing it¡¯s headed to my estate." "Hmm..." "Master, I''ll go along as well. I''m sure I can assist." The old Sorcerer''s eyes lit up when he turned to the girl, and he slowly caressed her shoulder. "Alright Ilmey, if everyone''s going makes me want to come along as well. That wretched king, I''ll have to leave for the capital soon to meet him in the morning. Haa~. You guys have fun." The entire meeting happened in the hall, we only moved a few meters down the hall as we conversed. The young girl and the sorcerer were walking in front of us; they seemed a bit close and I could guess their relationship. Zejimal came up to me and was now asking me questions, about horse riding and whether I can fight. Which irritated me, my anger only subsided with the thoughts of murdering these bastards one day. Waking me in the middle of the night, and this feeling of being used, this horrible itch. ??? The NPCs made a large crate to transport the Golem. The Golem is 2 and a half meters tall, it looks like it''s wearing a large smooth breastplate. It has Popeye arms, those large forearms. Its legs are similar, with a bell shape below its thighs, and its head is a perfectly spherical ball with glowing blue circles for eyes. There is also a blue design going throughout its body, carved into it like flames twirling, till it reaches the chest where all the flames seem to merge. One of my best creations after reaching level 10 in Craftsman of Taboo, this golem is a higher level than me with a level of 600. The level is based on the materials used and the amount of time and effort you put into making it. "Get in." The golem got in the crate as I commanded, and the NPCs started nailing the crate shut. "Just like how I first went to the city of Tengai, we''ll teleport it to the forest near the city, and then it can go down to the northern road and head to Tengai." I instructed Stella who''s been following the whole process with me. "Yes, Master Verra. The carriage is already ready." "Good." "Who should I use as the coachman¡­?" I pulled out a summon figure from the Human collection and poured in some of my mana, and tossed it to the ground. There grew a human adventurer, fully clothed and ready to fight. "Have him dressed to look like a coachman." "Yes, Master Verra." "You should have a few of these, it''ll come in handy." I took out more of my summon figures from my pocket and handed it to Stella. They were a mixture of my Human, Slime, and Angel collections. "Thank you very much for gifting me with your collection, Master Verra." She genuflected on the floor and lowered her head. "Sure, sure." It''s all a bit much, but I''ve gotten used to it in the past year, and I''m too lazy to care anymore. I tried stopping them before, but if they stop for one thing they start doing it for something else; it''s a never ending cycle. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "Everything is prepared for teleportation Master Verra." I opened up my map to confirm that the tracker incantation I put on the Golem is working. Just like the base, Data-House, the Golem showed as a red dot on the map. This golem might be the strongest defense mechanism in Data-House, I have four of them but even one is enough to destroy something like my Cave. So a tracker to track where this thing is, is an absolute necessity, there is the risk of someone hacking the spell to find my location but it''s worth the risk. The goods carrying carriage without the top. The crate was laid down, and its end stuck out the back since the carriage wasn''t long enough to fit it all. "Okay then if everything is set, I''ll teleport the carriage. [Mage: Spatial Move]" When the carriage disappeared I checked the map again to confirm its location that it was where I intended it to be. With everything taken care of here, I decided to head back to the Cave. "Alright, since everything here is done, let''s head back to the Cave." Most of the NPCs around me were my guards, with the exception of Stella and Cybel. I don''t get to see her a lot these days.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "Cybel you have been doing a great job managing the house in my absence, good work." "I am your humble slave master Verra." She is one of the few people among my NPCs who won''t change despite me telling them to a hundred times. She genuflected to the floor ruining her white dress, and I had to tell her to rise 3 times before she did. ??? Should I send a message? No... It''s not needed, if I know me - my original - he''ll send the Golem far from the city, and deep into the forest that no one would see the teleportation. "Hey don''t get left behind!" Another idiot on his horse came beside me. "William, you have to do this. Do this. Do this." I had to do what he did to make him shut the fuck up. "Yeah like that!" He shouted; as what he made me do, made the horse run faster, it was a simple flick of the rein. They''ve been annoying me the entire time since I got on this horse. How to touch the horse, how to hold on to the horse, how to keep your head, how to lean forward, how to DO! FUCKING! BREATH! They won''t fucking shut up! "He''s getting better." "Yeah, he''s still got some ways to go, but he¡¯s getting better." The two warriors talked among themselves, loud enough for me to hear. Think of the larger picture Verra, I mean William, you''ll get to kill them in time. We''ve been avoiding the watchtowers while heading west from the Sorcerer¡¯s estate, so most of the journey''s been through the forest. I don''t know how the horse was running through this place, I would''ve refused. Suddenly the ''leader'', Zejimal, pulled his horse to a halt, and showed us his palm, telling us to stop. I could finally see the road heading north through the trees. Zejimal gave us hand signals to move north following the road. Like one follows the river, we followed the road through the forest. I was worried we might go too far north since the original will be using teleportation if we went too far we might miss the carriage that''s coming with the Golem. But my worries were for nothing after we were far enough from the watch towers, Zejimal stopped us and got everyone to wait here. "Hmm... Going any further would be a waste of energy." So I took a seat on a rock and started drawing on the ground with a stick to pass time, while the others stayed on high alert to spot the carriage that would come with the Golem. ??? I should have gotten some sleep after they left. Yawn*. It''s going to be bad if I look tired. Even that stupid king might catch on. "[Sorcery: Unsleep]" Now that feels great. It''s going to be hell when it wears off. They should have made it by now. William, William, William. I didn''t go through 500 years without meeting a few people like you. Probably been living off of mommy and daddy''s wealth all your life. Got taken to auctions or something where you developed a taste for the rare, then you been spending every coin to obtain rarer and rarer things. I¡¯ve seen many nobles like you William, and I''ve had drinks with them, good times with them, and I would like the same with you. I can tell from just how lazy you are. Your eyes William they lack energy. Bestmans walking in the streets, but you don''t care; I really do wonder what favor you want to ask me, William. At least you aren''t like that king whose betrayed his own brethren to help those animals, but not caring is what lead to this. But there is still a chance for you, William, you¡¯re helping us so I expect good things from you. I''m not like you William, I had to work very hard to get where I am today, and I''m not going to give it up. You''ve given me the opportunity to take back what was rightfully mine, for that I''m grateful. "Master Danial the guards come from the castle. They are ready to take you to the Red King." One of the maid¡¯s voice came from the other side of the door. "Thank you. I''ll be right there, please tell them that." "Yes. Master Danial" I listened to her footsteps receding away, down the hall. All the people working for me are human commoners, ever since the slaves got equality it''s hard to tell which of them are with us and against us. I should get ready, if worst comes to worst I''ll just have to teleport out of there. Then I''ll really have to leave this city, maybe I''ll meet up with the princess. I really wonder in worry what''s happened to her. ??? "Is that the one?" The girl, Ilmey, asked quite annoyed that I was drawing a fish instead of joining them in looking at the road. I take a moment to look up and say: "No." But it was starting to concern me, the sun was coming up and I still haven''t spotted the carriage. The original should be able to track all the clones with his map, so if he sees me here he should be able to guess the situation. That''s if he checks his map. Doubt was starting to propagate within the ex-adventurers, the warriors, and the girl, Ilmey, wasn''t helping. She started asking me questions about this and that; how the carriage looked, if I knew for sure it''ll be taking this route, and if it was late. "How would I know if it''s late?" I answered returning the feeling of annoyance. "All I know is that it''ll reach the estate today, and for that, I assume they would have to come through here around this time." They were all starting to become irritated with me, I could feel it. Their ignorance is the only thing keeping them alive. "Be patient, it''ll come." With that, they grumbly shuffled back to looking at the road. "What about that one?" The girl asked flicking my ear from the side. It hasn''t been 10 seconds. I reluctantly look to the far side of the road, and coming from the turn in the road up ahead was a large carriage, driven by a dark-skinned man, dreadlock hair down to his shoulders, wearing clean but simple clothes. "Yeah, that might be it." Zejimal''s two adventurer subordinates made sounds of surprise and one of them turned to Zejimal to ask: "Should we go intercept." "Hmm... William and I will go; no need to frighten the coachman." Zejimal looked to the girl and got a nod out of her. Then she forced me to get up. The moment the driver of the carriage noticed me he shouted: "Master Ve-William. W-why''re you here?" The summons are able to recognize something like my mana or something about the aura around its creator. The only two main differences between us clones and the original are; we can''t create clones and our HP is our own. The mana pool is connected and so is the limited skills. From the fact that he knows my name, though, it seems he''s been briefed about the situation. Zejimal beside me answered before I could. "We''re taking a different route to the estate." For which, the coachman gave me a weird look, which asked ''who''s this fucker?'' Trying not to grin I said: "This is Zejimal, one of the Core Sorcerer¡¯s friends. We''re working with them." I don''t know how much he knows, but I assumed he knew enough. "I see. I''ll do as Master William commands." "Hahaha." No, you''re giving off the wrong impression. I know I''m your Master, but that face is too adhering. It''s not an expression you see on a hired coachman, but a good dog. "Hmm... Whatever, listen to me for now." Zejimal spoke dismissing the summoned human''s words. "If you go that way the watchtowers will spot you," Zejimal explained pointing in the direction of the watchtowers ahead. "Hmm... But.. you won''t b able to ta-e tha th-ugh te forest..." He mumbled to himself something before coming to a decision. "We''ll have to go back and take the other route." So we turned the carriage around and went back to take a different route through the forest. It isn''t a safe route like the main road which merchants usually travel through and is maintained by the guards. It took much longer to get to the estate, and we had to fight off a Squblins; by we, I mean they, since I''m just a collector right now. Squblins are a kind of goblins with large fluffy squirrel like tails. We have quite a few of them near the entrance to the Cave, they aren''t as smart as goblins so they behave more like animals than tribes. When we reached the estate it was close to evening, the sun was still very much up, but the afternoon had passed. The Sorcerer still hadn''t returned, so we couldn''t teleport the crate into the hidden grounds and had to leave it with the carriage in the back areas right outside the estate. It¡¯s not possible to get the carriage through the back, so someone will have to carry the crate in. Zejimal suspected there might still be some guards loitering around, so he decided not to use the front gates to get the carriage in. ??? If I see her I''ll give it to her. I put the square piece of folded paper back in my sleeve. A secret pocket where I usually keep magic scrolls. "We''re here Danial." From the way, he addressed me I knew the coachman was a slave. No one referred to me as just ''Danial'' in this city before this king. I was a Master, powerful, one of the strongest magic casters in this continent, and the strongest in this city. "Come on Sorcerer, let''s go." The man who opened the door to my coach said, calling with his hands. Does he not realize a single word, a spell, can kill him; there is no redemption for these fools. A human yet a slave. "I heard you the first time." I said, jumped out the door; my healthy vigor seems to have surprised this moron. The moron guided me to a room I visited many times to have tea with the previous king. You fat fool, you let your daughter run around with some maverick and look what happened. I know it wasn''t his fault, but whenever I thought of the previous king, I could not help but blame him in my mind. It was a splendid room, white marble floors, and at the edge of the castle with two sides of the room being windows. At the center of the room, there are two elegant couches which bend around the tea table. The tea table itself was made of pure glass, and just beyond the only set of furniture in the room was a beautiful balcony overlooking the side of the castle. I thought the king would make me bow down in the throne room or take me to his office, but it seems at least he has some taste. The guard that guided me here told me to wait and left. I took a seat and relaxed, as I had done many times before in this same room. The last year has been a terrible one, and sitting here made me realize that all the more. The curtains by the balcony fluttered with the wind, it was a bright and sunny day. The cool air was a welcome gift from mother earth. I didn''t eat anything for breakfast, hope I can at least get some lunch before I head back. In a week or so all this will be a terrible memory, terrible memories we can never laugh about. "M-master Da-anial..." I looked up to see the stuttering female demi-human from the Alpacaman tribes. A familiar face. She stumbled coming to me, teary eyed. "I-I''m so glad t-to see you..." I had to jump out of my seat to stop her from prostrating before me. Her tears of joy were moving. Only if all slaves could be like her. Loyal to the end, Lami. "Not here, stand straight. And wipe away those tears. Now, what are you doing here?" She wiped away her tears and did as I told. "I heard he called you here master, so I had to come see my Master. I tried to talk to you at the party¡­" It was just us alone in the room, but I kept one eye on the door. "I see. This isn''t a good time, and if someone were to see you behaving like this... But I''m glad I got to see you, take this." I passed her the folded piece of paper from my sleeve. "I''m delighted to see you as well Master Danial. How much longer... How much longer will I have to serve this fake king?" Since she started working here she''s been asking this question every time we met, and every time my answer has been: ''a little bit longer'', but not today. "Not much longer, read what I gave you in private and destroy it after you''re done. It will tell you everything." I could see the joy in her eyes. "Yes! Master Danial." "Not so loud. Now go." This time she just nodded her head and left, only to look back once more when she reached the door. A truly exceptional beastman. After a few minutes, the king came in. Those red eyes that make me wonder if he''s even human, and that strange hair. He took off his usual fur coat, that it seems he wears even in the summer and took a seat across from me. He laid the coat beside him, and underneath it was chainmail armor; clearly unfit for a king. I still wonder as I did a year ago as to where he came out of, I had never heard of him from the surrounding countries. He must be from another continent, but even some of my pirate contacts had never heard of him. It is normal for a subject of a king to genuflect at the appearance of the king, but I did not do so and that seemed to have made his butler who followed him quite upset. But the king like always, as I remembered him, took no notice. He was clearly no king before this, that alone I was sure from his bearings. "Danial, do you know why you''re here?" "I''m afraid I am completely in the dark. Your majesty''s guards questioned Zejimal''s pupils, and I''m not entirely sure what it might have been about. Does your Majesty have a problem if Zejimal, who is known as a great adventurer in this city, takes in a few pupils? I believe it is about time he retires so a teaching position would suit him the best." That''s the story we decided to stick with. It shouldn''t have any problems, they haven''t found any other evidence all they have are suspicions; and this king isn¡¯t the kind to act. "Is that so? If you don''t know then I''d like to think this was a mistake, and I really hope it was." He gave me a look with the last line, but if he was trying to threaten me he''s 100 years too early. The king didn''t stop there, it looked like he had more to say. "I''ll just leave that report as some guard¡¯s wild imagination. Now I''d like to address another matter, I think Zejimal might be able to help in this matter as well." What''s with that smirk, irritating. If that''s all I''d like to go home, but annoyingly enough he had more to say. "I am sure you already know; this coming winter we''ll be going to war with the Kingdom of Nolybab, and I would like you to take action as a general-" "What!? If you just give back the slave-" "Let me finish, I would also like Zejimal and his pupils to take part as well. Our army is monster-ably understaffed right now." Ha ha ha, don¡¯t I know it. You don¡¯t have to worry after we take over our country we won¡¯t be going to war. "Were you not just asking for volunteers? Will you be starting conscription?" "That is not the case. I know you have worked with the previous king with similar issues such as this, so I am asking for your help." "And if I refuse?" What''s with that disappointed look, am I supposed to be ashamed. Ashamed for what, this country''s a farce. "This country is divided, I thought leaving it alone would heal. This divide between beastman and human is nothing but outer appearance, I was hoping people would see that after spending some time with them. People like you who created this world of slavery and maintained it with great effort, but you lock yourself away in your estate away from the people, doing god knows what. I''m asking, no giving you a chance to redeem yourself, become this country''s hero again, that''s what you were weren''t you? Well, you weren''t for half the population that was treated in inhuman ways for the rich¡¯s pleasure and convenience. And don''t even mention giving back the slaves, they gave it their all to make it here, and I''m not going to abandon them. If you care about this country and its people you''ll help me. I don''t want to conscript, but if I have to I''ll make an exception for certain people, but I don''t want you to join because you''re forced but because it''s the right thing to do. If you just get out of that estate a bit and talked to these people, heard the stories of the refugees that come over every day then you''ll understand. Then what do you say? Will you help this country once again, as you have done in the past?" Does he believe all this nonsense, beastmans, and humans have nothing in common. No, I think he might just be stupid enough to believe his own nonsense. From what he said he''ll conscript if I refuse, so there is no way out. He was just saying all that to insult me or worse push his twisted philosophy down my throat, does he think I''ll just believe him and happily accept. Either way, I can''t refuse is what he''s saying, then all I can do is gain time. "Can I think about it? We have till winter no?" "That''s true... I''d like your answer sooner rather than later... For various reasons as you could imagine... How long do you need?" Well in a week we plan on attacking so how about "8 days should be enough if that''s fine." "8 days... Sure, that should be fine." He gave me a quizzical expression and turned to look at his butler, maybe with the thought ''8 days, is that something special?'' Ha ha ha... Chapter 10: Uno I ate my lunch at a very run down restaurant run by some slave. They don''t seem honored I¡¯m here, but they are surprised I¡¯m here. The food is... edible. I had slaves who cooked better than this. I don''t know what that king meant by spending time with these bestials. I think I¡¯m letting his stupid words bother me, I''ve lived for 532 years, and I know they''re only useful as slaves. To think I even considered those dull-minded words; an utter waste of my time. By the time I returned to my estate, the sun was setting and I was able to watch the beautiful twilight. If nothing else, one good thing came from today. These are things you normally wouldn''t pay attention to unless you''re riding a coach and happened to be looking out. I couldn''t spot any guards around my estate when I returned, maybe they finally gave up and went back to their jobs. I found the troops training where they usually did, by the side of the main house. William was enjoying tea and playing a game of chess with Ilmey. "You guys look like you''re having fun." "Yeah." William said barely paying attention to me, confidently playing his game. While Ilmey mumbled something of a ''yes'' as well. I took a closer look at the board, William is doing pretty well, and looks to be winning. He¡¯s a pawn and bishop up. Leaving the two alone, I went to talk with Zejimal. I confirmed the arrival of the Golem, and that it was left outside with the carriage behind my estate. I asked him to bring the crate in. Zejimal took a few of his men and went to get the crate. While he was doing that I went back to watch the game between my apprentice and William. I know for a fact as a young sorcerer that Ilmey is very intelligent and talented, but William was dominating throughout the game. He was winning pieces, it was starting to become a one-sided slaughter. Removing her pieces one at a time, but chess isn''t a game of winning pieces. As time went on her chances of winning only went down, before long he was chasing her king around the board. Either her pieces were being killed or standing idly by as the king ran around the board. Finally, when she was only left with 2 pawns and the king against an army, she resigned. When the game ended it was very much night, and the crate had long been brought to the backyard, they had it standing up when we went to take a look. ??? "Your Majesty, I have to disapprove your choice of letting him go?" I looked up to find a very disgruntled Grayson staring at me. ¡°I think you should have in the least exiled him.¡± ¡°Grayson I understand where you are coming from but I have to disagree. If we remove him someone else will take his place. This isn¡¯t a problem we can fix by removing people. We have to change minds.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine against someone we can control. Someone we can overpower, but a radical like him needs to be dealt with using force.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not a threat, Grayson. They don¡¯t have the power to defeat me, so you have nothing to worry about.¡± ¡°Hum~¡± He moans at my statement because he knows it¡¯s true. They¡¯re not the threat, the real threat is Nolybab. If they attack then I¡¯ll deal with him, punishing someone before the crime is ludicrous. ¡°What we have to worry about right now is the Kingdom of Nolybab, not a single Sorcerer.¡± ??? So they brought it in, I could have just told the golem to walk here but where''s the fun in that. Zejimal and his subordinates are trying hard to open the crate. "You guys don''t need to do that let me open it for you." I interrupted, I couldn''t watch anymore. I cut in and spoke to the crate. "Come out Uno." In the moment I said it, the crate creaked, and the front of the crate broke open and the Golem stepped out. In a panic, the troops jumped back and pulled out their weapons. The 2 and a half meter behemoth startled them, even the so-called great Sorcerer was taken aback by its blue glowing eyes. "M-may I try appraising it?" "Go ahead." The sorcerer touched the Golem, emitting his magic. "[Sorcery: Appraisal]" He started mumbling the words that appeared in his mind. "Cr-ted by a leg-ry cra-man of taboo... holds immeasurable power... Ghul stone... soulless life... This is... This is amazing, where did you get it!? Where!? How!?" He was shouting right into my ear, while rubbing Uno everywhere, he¡¯s really much interested in the Golem¡¯s chest where the flame design met. He was sweating profusely, as he cast a few other appraisal spells. "I can feel its magical power, it¡¯s not surrounding it like normal magic casters, but within is a large about of magical power. Whoever made this must have been a legendary figure, but I''ve never heard of anything like this in my books. Maybe technology from some fallen country, some ancient country perhaps. It''s hard to tell its age, or method of build." "Amazing Master Danial." Ilmey was exited as well, the adventures couldn''t fully understand, but they realized how amazing it must be as well. As the excitement slowly died down, Zejimal suggested an idea. "Hmm... How about all of you try fighting it?" He directed the question at his troops and turned to me. "Can you make it so it doesn''t kill them? I can only guess its power¡­ If it''s going to be fighting the king¡­ I know my troops can''t handle it¡­ yet." The last word seems to have been added to increase their moral because I know they¡¯ll never be able to match up with my Uno. His men must have picked up on it as well, since they seemed a bit dejected by his words, but they could only hold back their pride and accept it as the truth. Few of the men stepped up to fight Uno, so I could only oblige. "Sure, Uno fight them but go easy, try to minimize injuries. Just take away their weapons or something. It''s only training." It can only understand me to a certain extent, it wasn''t to the level of a NPC in that regard, but it should be enough to carry out this simple tasks. Not all of them faced Uno at once, but about 20 of them gathered to take it on. It''s good this is an estate, otherwise noise form the battle would be heard by the neighbors. With the Sorcerer¡¯s suggestion, we sat on the outside area of the north wing to watch the battle, he even made Ilmey bring over the chess set to play a game with me. So I enjoyed the night, playing a game while watching Uno fight against some low level adventures. In the moon light they started their training. At first they tried to attack it one at a time. The first attack came from a spear wielder, he lunged forth and aimed for the eyes. It was a futile attempt from the very beginning, it had no real eyes and the attacks were too low level to do any damage, but it dodged it anyway. Since it didn''t have a neck and it¡¯s perfectly spherical head was directly attacked to its shoulders, all its movements were a bit large. It had to move its entire upper body to the side and bend down, so that the spear would just miss close enough to grab the spear near the wielder¡¯s hands. After Uno grabbed it, it was hopeless for the adventure to pull it back, his attempts were absolutely pointless.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Realizing their friend was in trouble some of the adventures tried attacking from the side. Uno lifted up the spear wielder by his spear which he refuse to let go, and threw him at the adventurer coming at him from the left. Luckily the spear wielder let go at the right moment to land safely to the side. The spear alone hit the warriors coming at Uno, square in the nose. It was only the stick but it was heavy enough to knock a warrior to the ground. Holding his face in pain, he crawled and tossed on the ground. Coming from the right another warrior came with a sword and went for a slash at Uno''s knee joint. Uno swung his leg ahead of the slash, lifting his leg to do a half assed back kick at the solider, and he flew. Everyone stared dumfounded at how far he flew before he bounced on the floor before collapsing. They stopped the test training to go help the guy, he was mostly fine. I had to explain to them that Uno was holding back, and that''s just how powerful he is. It seems he pushed more than hit, so there was no injury from the initial kick itself. "Hmm... I''ll challenge it." Zejimal wanted to go at it solo, even though about 5 people couldn''t do a thing. "Then I''ll go after you, I want to test it out as well. I want to try and get it to show its full strength." It seems the Sorcerer can¡¯t judge from just watching and wants to fight it. Even I would have to take it seriously if I was fighting it and only with items that matches up could I win against it, so it''s suffice to say that ''yes it''s holding back, if it wasn''t you would all be dead within in a single move''. That reminds me of its strongest move: the Blue Sun. A fireball like attack about the size of a basketball, but the blue fireball undergoes nuclear fusion as it is created and creates an explosion that is about as deadly as a small supernova. In the game it was a large area attack that could turn the entire place into a crater, but wouldn''t that be able to destroy the world now that everything is real. It can''t be that deadly since the nature of the world itself has changed... right? I should tell Uno not to use it unless the opponent has something just as deadly. If we''re going to die either way, we might as well win¡­ or take them with us. "I tested it out a few times, and I don''t think it''s even showing 10% of its full strength." I answered the Sorcerer as honest as I can be in character. "Amazing" Was his response, and "Frightening" was Ilmey''s. "Ha ha ha... That too Ilmey, it surely is frightening. I''m glad you''re on our side William." "Think nothing of it." Because I''m not, I''ll kill you all in-time. ¡°We¡¯re all humans here after all.¡± Zejimal''s sword had a green glow around its edges, as sparks of green electricity pulsated from within the sword only to curve back into it. It''s a pretty rare item in this world, an electric sword. Zejimal shot a beam of electricity at Uno, Uno could have received it but dodged it showing its incredible speed. Where its body blurred as it moved to the side. Uno went straight for Zejimal, realizing he can''t dodge he activated some attack of the weapon which send sparks of electricity in all directions. The sparks only avoiding its user, it even hit some of his subordinates too close to the sidelines, and this was something Uno could not dodge either. Sparks rained down on Uno but they didn''t even faze him. He clutched the sword by the blade with one hand and smacked Zejimal with the other. Zejimal''s hands were forced apart as he flew through the air. Ilmey ran over to cast some healing spells, after which he seemed okay. Uno took away his weapon like I instructed it seems, for he came to me with it. I order Uno to return him his sword and Danial prepared to fight him. Noticing Uno''s powers laid mostly in hand-to-hand combat, he widened their distance before starting the battle. It could have also just been his style of fighting given his main class as Sorcerer. Uno merely waited as always for the opponent to attack, unless I give him direct orders to attack a specific person he won''t do a thing. "It seems lighting or physical attacks don''t do much against you." The sorcerer said out loud for everyone to hear. "Then how about this: [Sorcery: Widen area - Quick Sand.]" A large yellowish-brown magical circle appeared on the ground with Uno on the center. It caught some of the people around him as well, when the whole area turned into quicksand, devoid of the grass that was there a moment ago. While the few who got caught struggled, Uno slowly sunk further in without moving a muscle. Uno slowly looked down on the ground and realized that the ground had changed. Upon realization the sand around him exploded with a bang, and Uno was floating a few feet above ground. Bang*Bang*Bang* The sound rang throughout the estate, Uno was kicking the air. His feet moved at too high a speed that it took some time for the rest to notice. The bangs were from breaking the sound barrier. I don''t think they ever saw that in their lives, they realized it was flying and kicking the air but they couldn''t fully grasp the situation. Ilmey beside me muttered "What is it doing?" in a quite dumfounded voice. The sorcerer was dumbfounded as well and stared at the phenomenon for some time. When he realized Uno is staring back at him, cold sweat broke out all over his face. His complexion changed quite visibly, it so cartoonish that I smiled unconsciously. I stopped myself forcibly before someone noticed. I looked around to see if anyone noticed, thankfully it being night, and with everyone¡¯s attention on the flying Golem I am sure no one noticed. When Uno slowly moved towards him, he panically started casting magic. "Wh-Wh [Sorcery: Fireball.] [Sorcery: Ic-]" Before he could cast the second magic Uno was holding him by the mouth in the air. His mouth sealed shut, he tried to struggle but the grip didn''t lighten or tighten. Everyone could only stare at the mockery in front of them, the strongest Sorcerer in the country so easily subdued. There was no difference between the experienced Sorcerer and the inexperienced warriors that went against it, they were defeated all the same. I also learned one other thing from this, the Sorcerer hasn¡¯t mastered voiceless casting. I know it has nothing to do with levels, but it¡¯s still better to learn. Some of them feared it immediately I could tell, while others were filled with adoration. "Alright that''s enough Uno, put him down." Before he tossed him somewhere, I made sure he put the Sorcerer safely back on the ground. Stumbling back, the Sorcerer still managed to land on his bum. "Convinced he can take on the king?" I asked the shaken Sorcerer. Noticing me beside him, he struggled to his feet, then he stared at the golem for a moment before turning to me and saying: "Yes, more than convinced. H-how did you get your hands on this?" "Ah~ that¡¯s a secret." He looked at me with an ambiguous expression for a moment and turned away, to stare at the Golem once more. Without saying a word. Zejimal was the one to break him out of his trance. "I think that''s enough training for today. Everyone go get some rest." There was still some warriors helping their friends out of the quick sand. The Sorcerer finally noticed and canceled his magic. "Danial you should get some rest too¡­ tomorrow we''ll have to meet with everyone¡­ This Golem¡­ Hmm...." "I''ll teleport it to the hidden estate." Danial finally said when Zejimal mention the golem. Danial touched the golem and activated his teleportation, and he disappeared, but only him, the golem stayed where it was. I suspected this might happen, he''s not the owner, and his magic power is too low. Uno will deflect whatever magic is cast on it. Zejimal and Ilmey were a bit surprised when only Danial disappeared, but soon he reappeared. "I think it deflected your magic." I explained. "Whatever magic is cast on it, it will deflect without discrimination; healing or damage." "I see." "Hmm... Then should we¡­ leave it in the shed?" Zejimal was the one to suggest it, the shed was a space of its own, mostly to keep weapons and other tools, so I had no problems. "That should do." "Alright, if William doesn''t have a problem." The other two nodded along with that, and so I commanded Uno to the shed. "William I think it''s best if you move in to the estate for the next few days." Danial had suggested this before and I had refused, but since it was close to the date, I agreed. "Alright, but I''ll have to get a few things from my hotel." "That''s fine, should I get one of the coachman to-" "No that''s fine, my subordinate is right here." I pointed to the human summon that brought Uno, he was still sitting on the sidelines watching the whole thing. He was probably the only one other than me that wasn''t acting surprised or panicked by everything, maybe because he himself is a high-level summon. "If I can borrow a coach that would be great, since ridding around in a crate carriage would be difficult." The moment I finished saying that Danial looked very tired for some reason, arguable worse than when he was fighting the Golem. "Ah~ Sure. Take whichever one you want. When you come back a maid will show you to your room, I think I''m going to get some rest, today''s been a long day." He leaned over on Ilmey and I think I heard him say "Let''s go to bed." And she took him to his room. "Hmmm... I''ll wait for you to return, you''ll need help carrying your luggage." That was awfully nice of Zejimal so I accepted it with "thanks." So I picked a coach and went to get my stuff, from the hotel that I was so suddenly teleported out of in the middle of the night. When I think about it, god damn fucking assholes. With a deep sigh I tried to bring my blood pressure down. Anyway when I got back to the hotel, I took the time to message Verra, and let him know where I would be staying. ??? "It looks like my clone will be staying at the estate for the next 6 days." "I see, will Master William be fine on his own without any contacts." William is going to take care of the player, Tinkula, and Derraacs is still training the boy¡­ "I''m sure he can manage on his own, but just in case add a few more Shadow Stalkers around the estate. But don¡¯t let them act, only report. I¡¯ll personally give them orders if need be." "Understood Master Verra." ¡°Also Stella, how is the ship coming along?" "Yes, I visited them a few days ago, the construction is going well, as on schedule Master Verra. It will be finished by next summer at the latest. But the turbine you wanted¡­ they tried talking with the engineers working on the hydro-powered plant and other physicists, and news from their side isn''t good. They believe they can build it as Master suggested but using mana as the power source instead of electricity as Master wished." "I see." Well, that can''t be helped, that project is a lot harder than simple construction. Electricity powered would be the best, then we can improve our battery or solar power, but using a few summons even mana powered is economic. I was only talking about the future, they didn''t have to take me so seriously, but I suppose I shouldn''t complain about that. Really I''m glad. "But they said they''re waiting to build that last, in hopes of better news from the scientists in a few months." That''s optimistic I suppose. Progress can happen in a small amount of time but a few months¡­ "Tell them it''s fine either way, what''s important is finishing the ship on schedule." "Yes Master Verra, I''ll make sure to inform them." When the ship completes we''ll finally be able to set sail into new frontiers. Hopefully by then everything - well at least most of everything - will be settled here. Chapter 11: Fishy This place is much better than staying in the hotel. I started off the day by playing a game of chess with Ilmey, the Sorcerer was still in bed, and the troops were training on their own. I think most of them gave up trying to challenge Uno. This time I didn''t feel like playing around with her, so I mated her pretty quickly. I think it''s because they have none of the modern theory worked out in this world, so she simply isn''t a match for even an amateur like me who''s read a bit of Capablanca. Today it seems she¡¯s in the mood for the game since she asked for a rematch as soon as the first match ended. There were people I never saw before coming by the estate; I thought I met all the robe-wearing people at the meeting a month ago, but I guess not. A lot of them were Sorcerers under Danial, and in his absence, Ilmey listened to their inquiries. It was around noon when the Sorcerer actually showed up. "Ilmey can you go get the fish, I''m still feeling tired from ''no fatigue''." "You''re the one who told me not to use that spell, and then you go ahead and use it." The Sorcerer smiled wryly to her, I heard her sigh and I stopped paying attention to them. They clearly had some inside thing going on, memories I clearly didn''t share so I let them be. After what seemed like a conversation that ranged from scolding to concerned, my name was finally mentioned which got my attention. "What?" "I said, do you want to come along?" "Come along for what?" "Weren''t you paying attention...? Never mind. To get the fish, and run some errands." I''m not really doing anything... so "Yeah, sure." The hustle and bustle of the marketplace is the same as always. Mothers haggling the shopkeepers, adventurers off work, children playing where they shouldn''t, merchants delivering their products, peddlers setting up shop, shopkeepers shouting out their incredible prizes, and everything else you would find at a place that smells a bit fishy. You could find just about everything here, streets going off in every direction with shops and stands of all kinds. Food stuff to swords to scrolls and everything in between, so as soon as I entered the place I activated my God''s Eye just in case; wouldn''t want to miss anything. We seemed to be heading in the general direction of the fish market which I discern from what little she has told me. Every few feet she would see something that interested her; haggling and interrogating the shopkeepers, we slowly moved forward bouncing from one shop to another. I had completely forgotten how much I hated shopping with people, the few times I been forced to endure, all those memories are coming back now. She bought some ognam, told some shopkeepers to save some items for her, and even bought me a charm from a peddler. That was nice of her, useless but nice. After wasting much time examining fruits, vegetables, and unique looking garbage we finally made our way to the fish market. With many stands displaying their variety of fish, the smell of it was rich in the air. Then I could hear the ocean waves, a block away is the seashores. There were stores with signs of fish mixed in with the usual little stands, they sold shells, pearls and all other kinds of souvenirs of the sea. I could see the fishermen''s boats on that beach sands. Following the sand, you reach the ocean waves, which lead to the horizon. A peaceful and lovely day, the blue skies, the white clouds and the blinding sun. The fresh ocean air, I stand in nature again. I¡¯m nothing but a passing moment in this endless world. When you''re in the middle of a storm created by men you forget the world doesn''t care. It just is, whatever man does is merely... It doesn''t even react. No laws of its own, no conscience or anything to worry about, well it''s not conscious either. Being aware and still being pushed around by desires, I am determined. This must be, forever the curse of man, to walk in this determined world, where the ending is so clear and doom is certain. Life is all but an error anyhow, for entropy to fix, and wipe away from the universe. There would have never been any pain if it never existed. I wonder if they''re even self-aware, I wonder if I am self-aware, going about fixing problems and trying to live one year longer when all of it is... Let''s forget, yes, the summer breeze is lovely, the waves are beautiful, and so I am glad, so let''s forget. Isn''t that the motto of life? So I ended up following her through the sand, we walked around the boats that were docked on the beach. Quite in the opposite direction of where we were going there were people enjoying the beach, swimming, playing and sunbathing. Of course in the middle of it all, there were little stands to sell nuts and cotton candy. But we were walking farther and farther away from all of that. Towards where we are heading there is a dock, a long dock stretching into the sea. At the end of it, is a large boat. It looks like the boat or the dock was perfectly built for each other, for at the end, the dock it split into two like a tuning fork, and the boat fit perfectly within. It seems to be our destination, for I followed right behind her as she climbed the dock. The boat in the middle is a kind of restaurant for the fancy people of the beach. When this hairy man laid eyes on Ilmey he put aside what he was doing and approached us with a frown. His balding head and curly chest hair popping out his shirt didn¡¯t help him seem any friendlier. "Little missy, so he se-and ya ta do his dirty business ya. And who-es this? ya" He gave me a passing glance. Ilmey looked at me for a moment as to decide whether, to tell the truth, or not. "He''s just Danial''s friend. And to say... Master... He was feeling a bit tired so I volunteered to come in his place." "He-as a shrewd guy, I wouldn¡¯ta put it past him to plan all this. Ya guys don''t want to tell me nothang, but I can guess, and when this shit falls apart watch yourself a little missy. Yu too." He slighted towards me, and Ilmey was clenching her fist. "I''am not gonna say anythang else, just know I warned ya, a little missy." "Just do what we''re paying you to do." "Haa~ Folla me to the back." I went to the back, which looked like a submarine docking area, but there were obviously no submarines; I don''t think they have the technology for that. Besides this open water area, are barrels. The hairy man opened one of the barrels and pulled out a fish. "Hea''s what ya wanted rat. It''sa been sitting hea for a few weeks so they''re well off ya." "They look pretty fresh, you aren''t trying to scam us are you?" She was openly showing her disdain for the man, as she reached out to study the fish. "Hey! Yau wanted it ta look fresh don''t ya. Otherwise yeu gonna have the cook notice. Whoever-as eating this is gonna have a bad days." "Alright, make sure when the people from the castle come to pick it up you don''t say anything. Give them these barrels instead of the good ones and we''re good. Here''s the payment." She tossed back the fish she grabbed to study and untied the bag of gold she had tied to her waist and handed it off to him. He looked inside for a moment and tucked it away. "Nace doing business with ya little missy." "And don''t mention anything about us." "A thrust me, I ain¡¯t gonna say a word, and I want the same from ya folks." "You got it." They shook on it and the hairy man guided us out. Behind us, we could hear him mumbling out something about ''food poisoning'' and ''pranks'' as we left the restaurant. All Ilmey said as we were walking back to the street was "The cooks from the castle buy fish from him."Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "He''s the owner?" I asked not really caring but to respond with something. "Yeah, a commoner. Started off with just a small shop on the beach, worked his way up. Everyone knows him in this city." "Commendable." "Hmm¡­ I guess." For a moment I would have a thought she was Zejimal if she didn¡¯t have such a cuter way of doing that. We went back to the market place and visited a few magic stores. She disappeared to the back of the shop with the owner, and I decided not to follow her so I could browse the shop. The shop had beaded curtain doors, complete wooden interior, and enough creepy dolls and items to give it the real feeling of magic. But that''s all it had, a feeling, none of the items appealed to me, they were all too low level to be of any use. Only things worth any notice were the books, about certain famous Sorcerers of the past, some fictitious stories, and one book about how to make divine swords. I didn''t read that one past the title because I didn''t want it to level me up in something unwanted and make me lose a level in Necromancy or something else that I need. Not that it would, but I didn¡¯t want to take the chance. I''ll have to give it to one of the permanent summon, then let it read it and see what happens before I proceed with it. I bought the book before she came back. The cashier was a young man with long black hair, who was just a bit too hunched over for his age and wore a very gaudy Sorcerer¡¯s robe. ??? "Now that that''s settled. Let me ask, will you be joining us on-the-day?" "Please let me decline Ms. Ilmey. You know, I''m in no shape to be running around, you know I''m just an old man running a simple magic shop now." This lazy bastard, this is why your pupil is lazy too. "But you know Jerald will be happy to join everyone." "It''s fine. It¡¯s good at least one of you is coming. And what''s with that gaudy dress you got him wearing?" "You know He picked it out himself, his hero is that great Sorcerer Mogod you know." The paintings do have him wearing all that gaudy stuff. "You should advice your pupil better." "I don''t want to do that, you know how it is." No, I don''t know how it is. "Well, I''ll get out of your hair. Make sure you send all the attack type scrolls to the estate on the time we arranged. And don''t use the usual routes, the guards are paying more attention." "Got it." ??? "Jerald I hear you can do a level 4 spell now." Ilmey infers as she comes out the curtain doors. "Yas Ms. Ilmey." "Keep up the good work. And I want to see you out there, you got that." "Yas Ms. Ilmey, I''ll be sure to be there." He had a very slow and lazy voice which stretched out everything he said. "Good. You still reading the books I gave you." "A~ Yas, I finished The Fundamentals of Mana Manipulation, but~ I''m still reading the other 3." "How many times did you read The Fundamentals of Mana Manipulation?" "A~ Just once Ms. Ilmey." "Read it till you memorized the entire book, read it at least 10 times, cover to cover." "A~ But I already und-" "Have you memorized it cover to cover?" "No Ms. Ilmey." "Then read it again." "Yas Ms. Ilmey." "Good. Then, uncle, I''ll see you again in 4 days." The shop owner nods seeing us off. "Where are we going next?" "Why, are you getting bored?" She''s acting different from yesterday; more familiar. Less formal today, I guess she¡¯s gotten more comfortable around me. "No, not really, just wondering." She looks at me and then the bag of books I''m carrying. It can¡¯t be helped I¡¯m carrying it all; my dimension pouch was filled with money and other consumable items, so I didn''t have room for this. Putting it in my Slots will only get me unwanted attention. If nothing else, it¡¯ll seem like strange magic to you. "We''re going to the potion shop next." "I see. How many more stops do we have?" "I thought you weren''t bored?" "I''m not, just w-" "Wondering. Don''t worry that¡¯s the last." She had a stupid smirk on her face. "We have to order some potions, and we''re done." In the potion shop, she did the same thing again and disappeared into the back. There were a lot of potions that were familiar to me, like the health potions, and mana recovery potions, but the ones that really caught my eye were the resistance potions. They weren''t available in the game, I had heard of them in the report but this was my first time seeing them; 40% heat resistance, 60% cold resistance, 20% magic resistance, there were items such as rings that achieved the same results. Probably a more sensible approach, compared to the consumable potions that had its effects wear off, but it¡¯s interesting none the less. So I bought them to be reverse engineered by the chemical engineers back at the lab. What''s surprising is that I haven''t done this already. We left the potion shop with me holding another large bag of potions. "I wasn''t going to ask, but what is all that?" She said when looking at my bags of magic objects. She closed in to take a look inside. "Are all of these just resistance potions? Rarely anyone buys these so you probably helped them out." "Yeah, the cashier said the same thing. They wanted me to ''come back again''." "Yeah, I''m sure they did. Why did you buy all of these, even the books, what are they?" "The books are merely some random stuff that caught my interest. The potions... they''re pretty much the same, they caught my interest." I can''t say: I''m going to try reverse engineering the potions, and possibly weaponize it. "What, are you going to use all of them on yourself?" She asked picking up one of the potions from my bag. "No, I''m going to take it home and put them neatly on a shelf. For the viewing pleasure." "I know you''re a collector, but these things aren''t rare." "I only now realized I don''t have any of them in my collection, so they''re pretty important." "If you say so." She dropped the potion back in the bag, luckily nothing broke. The next few days were quite peaceful, the troops were training day in and day out, some people challenged Uno time to time, and lost all the same. The Sorcerer never tried to fight the Golem again, but watched while Zejimal tried and lost every time. So the days went by quick, and on the night before the invasion, large carriages carrying goods came to the estate. They were filled with all kinds of scrolls and potions. The potions were distributed to everyone, except the mana recovery potions which were exclusively given to the Sorcerers that showed up for the fight that''s to come. The scrolls, on the other hand, were exclusively given to the non-magic using warriors. "Everyone get some rest, in 4 hours we''ll be heading to the castle." The Sorcerer let everyone know. There were no underground tunnels or anything that could allow for a sneak attack, so all they can do is ride the surface during the night, and attack in the break of dawn. It was a surprise attack and that¡¯s the best chance they have. ??? In the cafeteria, all the morning shift guards gathered for their dinner. "This tastes odd. This really from Casby''s shop?" He said putting down the piece of fish he half bit into. "Oh god, you''re complaining again. Nothing''s good for you. This is army life, hasn''t it been a year since you joined." "I ate at the Fish-Boat before, and I know it¡¯s better." "If you don''t want it, then I''ll have it." "Fine, go ahead." He pushed the plate away and towards his taste-challenged friend. So all he ate was the rice without the special and watched the others eating away at the fish, but he did notice a few that pushed it away as he did. "Look even Gordo''s not eating this garbage." He pointed it out to his friend eating his portion of the fish. "Do I look like I care?" "Never mind, I think I''ll go to bed early." "Alright, later." "Haa~" As he walked away he felt like all these men, including his friend joined for no reason, they don''t even care what they''re fighting for. He joined the army when king Tinkula abolished slavery; He lived in this country all his life but never thought of the old king as anything good. After a year He doesn''t know what to think anymore, all his thoughts felt half-finished and unsure. Everything he''s been doing just didn''t feel relevant to his goal, whatever that was, which even he can''t explain. ??? Master is wise. Master is strong. Master is kind. "You''re not going to eat the fish Lami?" Master told Lami not to eat the fish, master is wise. "No, Lami likes vegetables more." If Master says not to eat, a good slave obeys. "If you''re not going to eat it then I''m going to take your portion too." That''s why you''ll be punished by Master, bad slaves get punished. "Go ahead." Lami will never betray Master, Master trusts Lami, that''s why Master told Lami not to eat. Master is such a kind soul. Master is very strong, he''ll kill that fake king, then you''ll all be punished. "Lami I''m going to bed, you need any help cleaning up?" "No, Lami is fine by herself." "Alright. You always work so hard." "That''s what a good slave does." "You¡¯re not a slave anymore!" All Lami can do is smile at the foolish girl, of course, Lami is a salve. What else would she be? "Lami knows." "Sometimes I worry about you Lami." This girl is a good hugger, she always hugs Lami, but she doesn''t have to worry Master is very kind to Lami. She should worry about herself, Master shows his strength to bad slaves who don''t listen. And Master is very strong. "I decided I''m going to help. Let''s clean all this up before the night shift ladies show up." ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "See Lami that was much faster right? You should ask for help more, don''t hesitate, your sis is here to help you." La-Lami''s sister, Lami''s sister died years ago. Sh-she died. Died. Died. "You okay." "Ah- Yes, Lami is fine. Lami jus-just remembered something, but it''s okay now, Lami forgot." "Am~ alright let''s get some rest. Eh~ my stomach feels funny, maybe I shouldn''t have had all that fish." "The soldiers ate it too right?" That''s what Master wanted, Master is very wise. "Eh~ I think so. I''m going to go... I have to run- Eh~" She left in a hurry, Master''s words are coming true? "That''s because you were a bad slave." May Master show kindness to your lost soul. ??? "You sure you don''t want to come with us?" "Yeah, I''m fine. I already told Uno to listen to Danial, and I''ll only be holding you guys back if I come." There are a lot more carriages here than there were 4 hours ago. They''re here to carry the troops, and of course Uno. There are also coaches for the commanders if you can call them that; Danial, Zejimal, and a few others. "Well if you say so. We''ll send a coach when we''ve taken command." Is she concerned for me, I guess I must have sounded a bit self-deprecating. She got into the coach that had all the familiar faces, also Jerald. Ilmey''s always acting like a big sister to him, when he showed up in a gaudy robe, she made him change to a darker outfit, fit for sneaking around. They''re going to reach the castle in the break of dawn so I don''t know if that''ll be helpful. I watched them leave and then helped the maid close the gate. Other than a few maids there''s no one else in the entire estate, even the gardener went off to fight. This is a great opportunity to sneak around. Chapter 12: Bright Blue Today is a day for revolution, today the sun rises after a year of oppression. A man with stern and cruel eyes marched through the castle yard on the break of dawn. His is a role crucial to the new rule that is to come. Yesterday¡¯s fish poisoned all who consumed them, and so the numbers have turned. With the courtyard empty, he headed to the gates. Sure there were some who didn''t eat the fish purely by chance, but they could feel the ominous air. The housing of the guards was filled with medics and maids with little training in nursing. Vomiting, diarrhea, and severe cold were the symptoms, and healing magic the medics and maids could do only gave a few moments of relief before the symptoms surfaced again. They could only prescribe rest, shake their heads, and leave the rest to time. The castle was eerily quiet from its usual simmering of footsteps that usually followed the changing of shifts. He could hear few clashes of blades from somewhere and there. People had gathered outside the gates surprising few of the night shifts who stood to watch. Confusion filled many as blades were thrust through their backs. When this man reached the gates a surprising but familiar face stood there. "Gordo there are people out there, th-this could be a worst case scenario." Upon seeing him the familiar face informed him, sweat dripping down his face. "Did you not eat the fish?" "What?" "Never mind." With those few words, Gordo pulled out his blade from its sheath, and in a single motion sliced the man¡¯s jugular. In surprise, confusion and pain he collapsed to the ground, his eyes fixated on his partner and friend he had spent the last year manning these gates. He compressed his neck to stop the blood, which only helped the blood go back in the trachea. Choking in his own liquids, he convulsed till his heart beat no more. The murderer had a key role; to open the gates, failure was not allowed, what he did was for the right of humanity. ??? The alarm bells rang, the horns went off and I had the best seat to watch it all. The NPCs finished setting up cameras; surrounding the castle, within the castle, everywhere. "Master Verra, would you like some more butter with your popcorn?" "No thank you, Zwanzig, but if you can add some pepper that''d be great." "Of course Master Verra." Viewing windows floating in front of me, showing me the multiple characters of interest, and I''m in a comfortably cushy seat. This is the closest it''s going to get to a TV in this world, I never liked reality television when I was back on earth, but I get the feeling this is going to be good. Ku ku ku... ??? The gate burst open and hundreds of warriors invaded the castle. The ones that could still fight and defend were few in number. The people they thought were their comrades had turned against them, they were outnumbered and many swords were stabbed through backs. Arrows fell down on the invading warriors from watchtowers. The warriors responded by activating their magic scrolls. A barrage of magical lightning and fire hit the watchtowers instantaneously. Exploding into a giant torch of fire. The men upon the towers fell to their doom. The structure creaked and wailed for some fraction of a time before it crumbled to the ground. Many tried to run, but where in this madness lies safety. It was all too futile, the warriors caught them, and the sorcerers shot them; as the support they came behind the warriors healing and shooting. The invaders split into two, some headed towards the soldier¡¯s housing areas, while others head for the Red King. The groups were all planned by the Core Sorcerer himself, in fluid dynamism each moved towards their goal. An even number of sorcerers followed behind both giving support, buffs, heals, and attacks. One group to burn the housings, with the sick inside, and as they run out, enough warriors to surround them and slay them with ease. And another for a Golem and a Sorcerer to walk forward in safety, protected by a swarm of warriors. In the middle they remained as the swarm moved forward invading the castle like a pack of wild animals, killing even the maids and workers caught in the middle of it all. Soon they were closing in on the King''s chambers. Bang! Bodies flung across the air, like shrapnels of a grenade, and in the middle stood The Red King. ??? "Master Grayson!" She hopped to his aid, her lop ears flapping. Stopping his fall, getting under his arm, supporting him with a shoulder. "Lean on me." "Burp* Oh god. Excuse me~" He wailed in pain. "I need to go to the bathroom." "Don''t worry." A maid must take care of them through sickness and in health. So she rushed him to the bathroom as he needed. Got out, and closed it behind him. She waited outside to respond to anything that the man might need. "What''s going on outside?" He asked through the door, as he waited for his body to explode and collapse. "I''m not sure Sir... but a lot of people are having the same problem as you, Master Grayson." The silence took over again, perhaps some strange screams from far away could be ignored. "And what''s that?" He asked making sure his body wasn''t going to collapse in the next few seconds. "Food poisoning Sir, the fish was bad. Everyone who had it seems to have become sick." "Is-" He goes silent in the middle of his sentence, no, it''s replaced by a soundless moan. The sound of half solid liquids falling burst out, farting and sharting, mixed in with the sudden grunts made the bunny take a step back. She waited for a minute in hope the sounds would die away, but a bursting echo broke the camel¡¯s back. "I''ll go get some ginger, Sir!" She yelled it out to block the sounds and hopped away. ??? I found it strange when my partner didn''t show. I looked down to see a few hundred warriors standing, facing the castle gates, for a moment I couldn''t place their intention but only for a moment. Are they crazy I thought, don''t they know of the king? They weren''t attacking, they lined up like they were waiting for something. No one else was here on the watchtower, it was strange, I would run to the king to tell the news but there was no one else to man the tower. I looked to the watchtower across me, I could see two men watching the same scene as me. I am reviled one of them can go tell the king. Then they surprised me by ringing their bell and sounding their horn. I looked down to find one of the gatekeepers in a puddle of his own blood, and the other unlocking the gates. Then I saw that the guards on top the wall were fighting, they were fighting each other. I couldn''t tell why, or even who was good and bad; who is defending, who is attacking. The gates burst open in the middle of my daze and brought my attention to the ground below. A few mere arrows were fired at the swarm of warriors and sorcerers. In panic, I readied my own, before I could fire a shot, the tower across mine burst into flames. I watched the collapse with a bow and an arrow in my hand, I couldn''t understand how this could happen; a force of this many shouldn''t be able to defeat us. I heard a sound behind me; someone was climbing up the tower, I turned and fired my arrow. It was sudden, and it hit him before he even noticed, he fell from the ladder down the tower. Was he with me or against me, I don''t know. He was a knight like me, but uniform meant nothing anymore. I jumped across to the wall, this was the only escape I saw in my mind. I slid down the castle wall, trying to get some grip using my dagger. I did not land without a sprain. By some luck my escape was not noticed, I escaped while others died in front my eyes. Now only the King can stop this madness. Only the King who can single-handedly take down an army. ??? They rammed with their bodies to push the doors open. Inside, there are already men wielding spears, fighting each other. As one of the spearmen-guards saw the number of warriors he broke out sweating, while the other screamed at the top of his lungs. "Long live The Core Sorcerer!" A clear sign to the warriors, the invading warriors instantly knew who to kill, and went at them with their swords. In front of them is a hallway stretching out far, with an elegant red carpet, at the end, is the throne room. At the sides of this hallway are two wide stairs leading up to the second floor. The warriors here numbered about 80 since they split up from the main group. Their goal isn''t the throne room. "Everyone we''re all going up." Zejimal let them know pointing to the stairs. Their goal is the king''s chambers, his bedroom, and office. The bells and horns must have alarmed them, because as soon as they beat the spearmen more started coming out, running out from where ever, but what is 1 against 10. The warriors beat them on the left, beat them on the right, and beat them on the stairs and above. The 2nd floor is the same with a large hallway stretching out to a room that the Sorcerer knew well. Forward they run, crushing the few separated ducklings that came to stop them. The maids who were unfortunate enough to be caught up in this were either killed with a single strike. Or if they were lucky, beaten down by a warrior desiring a slave of their own, grasping chance, to maybe get a free slave. The more beautiful they were, the chances of their survival went up. The warriors at the front separated further and further ahead from the sorcerers without their noticing, as they got closer and closer to the Red King¡¯s chambers. Under the guidance of the Core Sorcerer, the sorcerers prepared themselves for the real fight to come, while they let the barbaric warriors go ahead and scout for them. Suddenly the warriors at the front exploded, as the sorcerers watched safely and timidly from the back. ???This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The king is always late to his office, and I''m always on time. Which gives me a lot of time to clean up the folders on the floor, and whatever mess we made the day before. I arrange the folders in order of difficulty since I want to get rid of them first, but sometimes his Majesty will ask me to read him specific files. The door opened with a clicking sound as the handle twisted, I tried to take a pose suiting a servant quickly. The person popping in is just the new maid, she''s a catman, and she just recently immigrated to Tengai. "Ma''am would you like some tea?" She learned that I always come here early - on time - and so she brings me tea every now and then if she isn''t busy. I think the other maids - passively - drive her away. "Sure, and there''s no need to call me Ma''am; just Emali will be fine." I told her this before, but she gets nervous after a bit and goes back to calling me, Ma''am. "Ah- I-I''ll try." "Haa~" I can''t force her if she doesn''t want to. She poured me some tea, and I took a small sip. "Some biscuits would go great with this." I said just to make some conversation going, not thinking too deeply. "I''m sorry Ma-Emali, I''ll get snacks. Biscuits." "Tha-" t¡¯s not necessary. She ran off before I could stop her. That girl needs to relax, and that''s coming from me. I heard the sounds of bells ringing and horns trumpeting. I felt unsure of what to do, and simply drank my tea. It got louder, I feel confused and isolated, perhaps it would have been better if she was here to alleviate some of that isolation, but then it suddenly stopped. The silence again. I understood at an unemotional and intellectual level that this meant the castle is being attacked. Who? Where? How? Isn''t this king the strongest in the history of all the kings, no maybe all of humanity. His strength is something I¡¯ve only heard of in myths or legends, feats only those known as half-gods, or heroes can achieve. How could anyone attack here, who would dare? I did find today to be eerily quiet. I didn''t pass the many soldiers I usually do on my way here, and even some maids who are usually up before me were missing in the kitchen today. Shouldn''t she have returned with the biscuit by now? I slowly and reluctantly went out the office. I hear the sounds of metal clashing. I''m sweating and my hands are shaking at this point, but I go closer to the sounds. I hear screams of what might be the maids. I am getting closer to the king''s bedroom when I hear a loud bang. I draw close enough to see what''s going on, and there is the king standing in the middle of some dirty warriors. They and their swords were covered in blood and sweat. There are warriors collapsed on the floor all around him. As his eyes glaze over the ones standing in front of him, they take a step back. But his eyes are not focused on them. What''s he looking for? While some froze in fear at the sight of him, others backed away slowly feeling the immense pressure he gives off. Finally, he seems to have found what he was searching for. "So you''ve decided to remain a villain to the end." ??? I woke up to the ringing bells and the horns. The girls aren''t beside me so I''m worried, I know someone is attacking. Grayson isn''t here, no messengers are here. Who''s attacking? From what we know there could be two groups trying to attack. Could the Omron Church be trying for a sneak attack, or is the Sorcerer stupid enough to challenge me? In either case, how do they expect to beat me? Or is their objective something else. Grayson isn''t here, what''s wrong with him, he''s been waking me up every day for the last week before the sun comes up, and today he doesn¡¯t show. I open the doors to my bedroom, and there''s Obella. Her waterfall blond hair, her cute pointy little elf ears. But she looks a bit too pale. "What''s wrong?" "Just a stomach ache, nothing to worry about." She gives me a pained smile while holding her stomach. I''ll have the healers look at her later. "Alright, get some rest. I''m going to go check out what''s going on." She must have heard the warning bells as well. She slips past me into the bedroom. I walk down the large corridor when I hear fighting from one of the side rooms. The sounds coming from a staff area with an always open door. Inside there is a human maid, beating on a rabbitman maid. "What''re you doing!?" The human maid spins around throwing herself into vertigo. "Y-yyyourrr Ma-Majesty!" "What''s the meaning of this!?" She looks tongue-tied, and the demi-human maid is crying. There''s no one around, I can''t even leave them to someone else. What''s going on today? I¡¯ll ask the human here, she looks like she knows what¡¯s going on. Placing my hand on her head I activate one of my Echo skills. "[Echo: Hypnotic]. Now tell me why you were fighting her?" Her blank eyes stared into space as she spoke. "She''s a demi-human. Demi-human''s shouldn''t be walking around with humans, they''re meant to be slaves." If she believes that then why''s she still in this country, I allowed them to leave, didn''t I? Even if she choose to stay, for whatever reason, she could have gotten a job that doesn''t need her to always be around demi-humans. But that''s not something I want, I rather you all just get along. "Haa~ then why are you attacking now?" Why not earlier, why not later? Does it have something to with the attack? "Today the Red King dies, so now is the best time to kill his allies. She is with The Red King, she''s not with us." "Haa~ so I die today huh?" Who fed her this idea? And thank you rabbit girl for being my ally. "Yes, you will die today." "And who told you that?" "The great Core Sorcerer, Master Danial. He sent messages through the guards and Sorcerers who are still loyal to him and the old king." So it''s him. "Is he the one attacking right now?" "Yes, it is the great Core Sorcerer, Master Danial who has come to claim your life." Is that so? Well, he can try if he wants to. It looks like I wasted too much time here. I can hear the clashing of swords and many boots running down the hallway. The rabbit girls forehead looks like its split open, but I think it''s just the flesh. "I''ll call the healer as soon as I''m done with them." It looks like they got this far pretty fast, I can see them from the door. [Berserker: Cannonball] I shoot myself straight at the mass of warriors, bashing anyone I touch. I land in the middle of them all, just flinging everyone off of me in all direction. Where is he? Is he not with them, is he somewhere else? There are sorcerers here, ah~ there he is. I was hoping for better from you if you changed you could have brought on a whole new era. People follow you, and you could have shown them the right way. Instead, you choose greed. Humanity makes mistakes, but it changes always to better itself, and you could have been that change. ??? The warriors froze at the sight of The Red King. His line of sight is fixed on one person, in particular, wearing a dark green robe with lighter markings around the sleeves and edges. The king spoke with great disappointment. "So you''ve decided to remain a villain to the end." He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Using Zejimal''s pupils for the upcoming war will be impossible now it seems." He finally looked around at the panicked warriors. "Don''t worry I''ll try to hold back as to not kill." "What the hell are you idiots waiting for!?" Yelled Zejimal, who was mixed in with the crowd. He jumped in with his sword raised high, with all his strength swinging for the king''s head. The sword is caught with ease, between the king''s index and thumb. But Zejimal didn''t show fear, he grinned broadly, "Poison Lightning." Sparks of green lightning burst out from the sword and struck the King. "Too bad I have levels in Crank, and Poison Blood." The man didn''t even flinch at the attack and took it all. Zejimal grin froze on his face. "Here take some of it back, [Crank: Electric Pulse]" Zejimal¡¯s thrown into his own warriors, shocking the people he fell on as well. "Uno! Kill that man!" The Sorcerer shouted pointing to The Red King. Until now the Golem has been on the corner of his sight, but hearing its name ''Uno'', it got his full attention. "That is a strange looking thing. Is that what made you think, you can fight me? Well, then I''ll just have to destroy it." The King disappeared in front of their eyes. Then suddenly the side wall collapsed with a bang, dust from the cracked, and falling walls filled the air. Some noticed that one of Uno''s legs were in the air as if he had just finished a kick. Emerging from the hole in the wall, and the dust that clouded it, is the Red King, with blood dripping down his forehead. He wiped away the blood dripping down his face. "I didn''t want to break the sound barrier indoors... but I don''t think I can afford to hold back against you." BTOOOOM! Instinctively they covered their ears and ducked down; they felt the entire air shift as if they stood at the center of a storm as it began. BOOOM! BTOOOM! BOOO! Like an out of sync pulse, the air broke above the warriors, the spectators. They looked up to see the hazy blurred figures of red and blue clash. The walls and columns cracked, and those branches spread more and more as the pulses vibrated through the air. The Red King crashed to the floor creating a small crater, "AHAW~" a low groan escaped him. As everyone watched the king in pain, he still managed to jump out of the crater to avoid a knee drop. Like slithering snakes cracks spread out through the ground, and there at the center, a Golem that looked to be genuflecting to the spectators. Gaining a few meters, the king stood up, ragged, his hands shaking, with his fur coat damaged, and his red hair clinging to his sweaty bloodied face. "Aa~ Ha~ Aa~ Ha~ [Poison Blood: Venom]" Breathing heavily he activated his skill. The white of his eyes turned blood red, the veins on his face became visible as they turned dark and black. The venom provided the boost he needed to dodge the bolt of stone launched at him. The flurry of kicks and punches aimed at him. But the poison which coated his skin did no damage to the Golem at all. He jumped back to keep distance and yelled. "[Poison Blood: Crystal]" Everywhere he had touched the Golem with the poison, red beautifully shining crystals came out, impeding its movements, encasing it in crystals of blood. "Aa~ Ha~ Aa~ Ha~ I knew it wouldn''t hold." The crystals were cracking, the encasing fell apart under the sheer strength of the Golem. Strength he understood well after exchanging blows. "[Ouroboros: Devour]" Unclenching his fist, a sting runs down the flesh broken knuckles, pain in his aching bones spread through his arms, longer this goes the heavier he feels. He opens his stiff fingers, and there on his left palm appears a mouth. The mouth of the devourer, he takes a few deep breaths, reading to jump in again. Few more crystals break, he can''t afford to hesitate, the Golem moves an inch. BATOOOM! He thrusts his left hand forward, grabbing at its exposed round head. Uno''s head disappears into his hand, it eats like a black hole, with an unquenchable appetite it tries to guttle more. There is resistance from the Golem, as it shakes the ground with its colossal strength. Devouring such a large magical weight provides its own problems. Hellish blue fire flares forth from Uno, cracking and melting the crystals at a rapid rate. His hand feels hotter, but before the flames could attack him they''re consumed by the mouth. He endures the heat as he thrusts forward to devour it all. The crystals break, Uno''s hands clutch his, putting an end to its meal. His arm catches fire, and so he struggles to free himself from its grips. The struggle erupts as he throws himself around the hall, at walls and columns, while Uno refused to let go. As some of the levels of Immortal tries to heal, and rejuvenate the burning flesh, the blue flames spread further and deeper into his body. While Uno has managed to free himself from the mouth, the king''s attempts to free himself from the grip turn sluggish. As he still struggles the flesh burns brighter and brighter, giving a glow of red around the blue, as poison blood start to boil and ignite. The king lands a few good hits on Uno, but it refused to let go. He raises his feat for a straight kick; with only one foot on the ground, Uno uses this opportunity pull him off his balance. Bringing him to the ground, Uno twists his arm as to aim the palm away and delivers a few stomps of his own to the fallen king. The blue flames had spread through his entire body, his wounds won''t heal with the flame destroying any progress. The Red King is doing well not making a sound in that painful state, only the crackling sounds of the fire came off his flesh. With a few more stomps his HP was at its end. The Immortal class will stop death from loss of Human levels, but not death from HP depletion. His last shallow breaths were filled with the stench of his own burning flesh, and the painful fire which gave his vitality no chance to recover. Struggling to return to his feet, struggling to get in a few more hits, and struggling he drew his last breath. ??? "That was a good fight." "Yes, Master Verra." Everyone seems to be nodding along with me, satisfied. Yeah, it was the expected result, even I wouldn''t be able to win against Uno, a level 600 Golem. Maybe with my clones all working together...? No, I would perform a lot better but it would¡¯ve still been a loss. That given, the king put up a good fight with such a low level. I would need at least a few 300 level NPCs to back me up to win against Uno and some other powerful items from the treasury like the Gun... Or... Something. None the less that was a good fight, maybe if he had time to prepare before the fight he would have done a lot better. Is it because I''m just watching. I just killed a player but I''m fine, well I need to be fine to achieve my goal. And it doesn''t look like he''s going to respawn, well in the game you can''t log-in for 3 days, but it doesn''t look like that''s what''s happening. He''s good as dead, which was also the expected result. If you die here, you''re done, that''s it. That makes the game more serious but nothing has really changed. Really the problem would be if he could respawn; I''d have to figure out a way to lock him away, instead of killing. It would be bad if I could respawn too... Well, there''s some good and bad to that. I put a few more popcorn in my mouth and offered some to Stella. "Thank you, Master Verra." She grabbed some, so I offered some to Zwanzig as well. She took some and said her thanks in the same way. I had arranged for their seats beside me to watch the show. There are some others sitting around us as well, NPCs who worked in the surveillance department who decided to watch the show with me. I¡¯m not going to get up to offer them, it''s too much of a pain in the ass; Stella and Zwanzig are right beside me. "Let''s keep watching, I want to know what they''re going to do now." "Yes, Master Verra." ??? "AHHHHH!" The Golem finished its stomping. The warriors watched the scene in amazement, the castle guards came to despair and fell to their knees. They watched in horror as their king laid on the ground motionless burning brightly. Their last hope burning bright blue. The scream came from Emali, she was on her knees watching the whole fight. This was something she couldn''t accept. She looked around her to see the warriors who attacked, guards who defended on the floor dead and injured, and the maids crying and whimpering. Even the invading warriors seem surprised at the scene, the scream had brought her to their attention. And one of the warriors asking calmly for they knew they have won. "What should we do about her?" The soldiers stumbled back confused and afraid. Few ran but no one gave chase, the chaos that was there a moment ago was all gone. The maids who were ex-slaves fell to the warriors¡¯ feets and begged. Emali wondered if she should do the same, she was a slave just like them, she is a slave. Tears flowed out like a broken dam, she could only feel sadness to the core. She could do nothing but weep. The other soldiers started asking similar questions. "What should we do with them?" "Should we kill them?" "Get off my feet!" And they were all answered by a stern old man. "No, if they''ve given up gather them here. Search the castle, if anyone resists you''re allowed to kill. And as for the injured warriors bring them to us sorcerers, we''ll heal them." Chapter 13: Bros Magic The galloping of the horses resonates through the streets. It''s morning and the air''s still wet as the sun''s first beams illuminated the horizon. The marketplace crowd has yet to show, and the sellers were setting up their shops. A young maiden found it hard to cross the road today, as a horses bolted past her. "Hey~" She jumps back to one side letting the horses run by. "What''s going on today?" She adjusts her glasses and looks both ways. Making sure nothing would run her over, she ran to the other side. She stuck to the side watching as a few more horses went by. In this side of the road is a little shop made of wood and cloth. The roof looked to be caved in, it looked like a sophisticated blanket fort that was built 5 years ago. Dirty with stitched up holes. Bro''s Magic sells everything an adventurer needs from potions, swords, armor, to magic scrolls. "Why''s Red here?" "Red''s here?" The two brothers commented the moment she entered their blanket fort of a shop. They both had turbans tied around their heads like two large bee hives. "Hey, guys." She said trying to smile while fixing her red hair. The brothers turned to each other and smiled, their smiles were gone when they turned back to her. "Wasn''t our shop... Oh, what was it she said about our shop Ahmed?" "I believe it was ''This place smells like piss and looks like shit''. Oh, and ''Rat''s blood has a better recovery than your potions''. It was something along those lines Ahmad." "Oh yeah I remember now... and what was a much better shop than ours, she said something like that right, Ahmed?" "Yeah, she said the Sorcerer''s Place was much better, and that we should take a lesson from them Ahmad." They were making a show of talking to each other loudly while ignoring her. "Mi mi mi..." She gave a nervous laugh, her palms were sweating. ¡°It was a joke, don¡¯t take it to heart... let¡¯s forget that, let bygones be bygones." A fake smile that nervously flickers on her face. "Huh!?" "Huh!?" She took a step back at their menacing glare. She had nothing to say to their hostility. The brothers slowly eased their glares and sighed simultaneously. "Why''re you here Red?" "Yeah why are you here?" "Yeah, we thought you married the Sorcerer''s Place." "Yeah why don''t you drink some rat''s blood since it''s soo~ much better than our potions." "Come on guys those were just jokes... Yeah, jokes." "Was that funny Ahmed?" "I don''t know, was that funny to you Ahmad?" "Alright!~ I''m sorry, I might have said too much." "Might have?" "Come ooon~" "Hmm..." "I just want 2 recovery potions and a fireball scroll if you guys have one. And I''ll be out of your hair." "Do we? Huh? Ahmed?" "Yeah I think we have those but especially for red we can sell it for 1 gold." "Gold!? For 2 potions and a scroll. 5 silvers tops." "If you don''t want to pay you don''t have to shop here, you can always go back to the Potion Rainbow or Sorcerer''s Place." "Fine! Fuck." "Uum?" "Uumm?" Both brothers were surprised and looked at each other again. "Okay, what gives? Why''re you here?" Most only came to the Bro''s Magic shop for their cheap prices, it was ''so'' cheap it was bad. "Yeah what''s going on Red?" "Why''s a big shot like you buying from us?" "Haa~" Her shoulders dropped, she just couldn''t take it anymore. "That''s what I want to know, what the hell is going on today? And my name is Robee!" She took out a gold coin and pushed it on Ahmad. "Here take it, now just get me the best two potions you guys have and a fireball scroll." If there is such a thing as ¡®best¡¯ means anything in this shop. Ahmad bit the coin and handed it to his brother Ahmed. Ahmed went to the back, disappearing behind some dirty sheets, which is the wall. They both waited in silence till Ahmed came back with the potions and the scroll. She immediately took them and jammed it in her pack. "Potion Rainbow is out of recovery potions." She let the truth be known. "Aah-" Ahmad rolled his eyes. "I see why you''re here now. And the Sorcerer''s Place" "They''re out of fireball scrolls... I don''t know what''s going on. And these guards running around today? They all look like they''re going to the palace¡­ from the looks of it." She said a lot more relaxed now that she''s gotten what she needs. The brothers are a bit angry, but they knew her personality well and saw her genuine concern. "Those horns earlier... But don''t worry about the King." "You were friends with him right, then you know better than us not to mess with him." "Yeah, it''s a death sentence for anyone having to fight our king." They both confidently told her their opinion. But that''s what concerned her the most, everyone knew how strong the Red King was so who would be willing to go against him. The horns sounded some time ago, and all the guards from the watchtowers headed to the castle. It was a strange feeling, like if you could smell the smoke but not see the fire. "You heading to the castle too, then?" "Naa~ I know the king can handle himself, you''re the last person I need to hear that from. I''m going to Nadnol..." Plus how am I supposed to help The Red King? That''s the reason I left that, to begin with. With him, all you can do is stay in his shadows and play a supporting role. I''m going to make it on my own. "Well, I''m heading off, see you guys later." And so she got a ride out of Tengai while the guards headed further into the center of the city. Through the city, the town, and the village she watched the horses pass her by. ??? "Master Danial we found them in the king''s bedroom." The agonizing faces of these elves, what a wonderful thing to see. To take advantage of this city for so long, now you understand what you¡¯ve done. Ha ha ha, are they looking pale because they ate the fish or because their precious king is dead. And then there is this human, a traitor. "Men! You have all done well, I''ll reward these women to you. Do with them as you like!" Hahahaha- Traitors! Traitors! Traitors! There will be no mercy for traitors! "Oh~ another thing if you come across an Alpacaman don''t hurt her. Her name''s Lami. If you see her around guide her to me." ¡°Master Danial!¡± A man came running, trying to say something in the middle of breathing. "Calm down will you. Take a few deep breaths." He calmed down under my instructions. Where is he from the other camp, did they finish killing the guards. Or did they surrender. I don¡¯t think I gave them much of an option to surrender. "Master Danial, they''ve gathered outside the castle. They''re demanding we open the gates." So the guards from around the city have finally shown up. They''ll summit when they realize the king is dead. "Has everything in the castle been taken care of?" I directed my question at everyone, even the maids on our side who''ve gathered after the king''s death. "Hmm... Manerk and Omewa aren''t back but, but everyone else seems to have come back." Does he know all these warriors by name? I know 300 is a small amount compared to what he had before. "This place is big¡­ let''s hope they aren''t trying to search every inch." As long as we stamp out any of the resistance left in the castle is good enough. Don''t need to find every fleeing maid, we can take care of all that later. "What about the soldiers who went to the housing and training areas?" We split up for a reason, they should be fine given most of the guards are sick after eating the fish. "You..." He just ran here, maybe I should ask someone else. "Y-yes, Master Danial." Doesn''t matter. "Yes, you go gather all the troops who went after the guards. Their housing area. Gather them all in front of the gate." When we open the gates we''ll give them something to look at, something really nice to look at. "Yes, Master Danial." He barely had any time to catch his breath and there he goes running off. I will remember to give him a promotion when this is over. What was left of the king was a blackened and burned body. I wonder if they''ll even believe that this was the Red King. Well if they don''t I still have this thing with us. With this, we can take on the entire army if we have to. "Hey, just tie her up. Tie them all up, for now, we can''t be wasting time here with these rats." I couldn''t take him making all that noise anymore, beating on some maid, or secretary or whatever she is. They can beat them and kill them all they want after we¡¯ve wrapped things up. "Yes tie them up, and you chop the king''s head off." I pointed at to the burnt body, but he still seemed a bit flabbergasted at my words. Is this so hard to understand?The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "I said cut his head off. And put it on a spear. Try to keep as much hair on the head as you can when you cut it off." We''ll show that to the people waiting at the gates, Ha ha ha. Hopefully, they can still recognize that face. There''s still some of that hair left¡­ red... "Manerk... Where''s Omewa?" Zejimal shouted at a man at the other end of the hall. He was pulling along some fat yellowish dog of a beastman. When he got close enough the dog recognized me. "So-sorcerer." He stuttered and collapsed to the ground and prostrated before me. Is he trying to beg? Ha. "I found him and some others like him locked up in the dungeons. There were a bunch slaves crying to see their Masters." Slaves, crying to see their Masters? Perhaps more people like Lami. The world is going crazy when you have loyal beastman and disloyal humans. "I see, what did you do with them?" "I didn''t know what to do, I left them there." That was for the best; at least for now. "Hmm... What about Omewa?" "Ah¡­ Sorry Master Zejimal, but I don''t know where he is. We split up when we got to the Library." "Hmm..." "It doesn''t matter what one soldier is doing right now Zejimal. Let''s head to the gates, we have to still deal with the traitors." Then we''ll need to figure out what to do with all the bestman freely walking around. I still don''t see that butler anywhere, is he hiding somewhere? I thought he''d come to help the king. How long is he going to take to cut the king¡¯s head? He pulled the Red King''s head up by the hair, and with a single swing he sliced his head off. Blood sprayed on the floor, and on the warrior that performed the decapitation. The body fell to the side when the last bits of flesh joined at the neck that the blade didn¡¯t fully cut stretched and broke; spurting blood like a freshly opened champagne bottle. Blood drips from the decapitated head as liquids still left in the pipes slowly drain. What was a stream slowly turned to single droplets. Singular droplets fell as he carried it to the spearman who pointed the spear at him. He took the spear and jammed into the head until it was stuck tightly so that it can be waved around like a flag. And for the most part, the hair stayed on the Red King''s decapitated head, making the thicket of hair sway majestically as it is waved. The soldier accidently held the spear right over his head and got droplets of blood on his head. He learned quickly and held the spear in front, not above. I looked to Zejimal to take charge. I could do it personally but it''s better to have warriors command warriors. "Hmm... Alright, everyone, we''ll be now defending. You''ll be at the front." "HOO!" The warrior thrust the head up higher. "Alright, all of you follow me." Zejimal led the way. As we let the warriors walk up front, the sorcerer''s took to the back where we can utilize our magic the best. "All of you that''s enough, follow Zejimal. We can deal with them later." There were still some beating up the maids or tying them up tighter and tighter. They were falling behind even the sorcerers, I waited on them till they took their places following Zejimal. When they all left I got to see just the slaves, tied up and beaten on the floor. They had all been so smug; now with the stupid king gone they had finally realized their place. Below me, they laid weeping in despair, a sense of satisfaction I hadn''t felt in a long time filled my being. All of you wouldn¡¯t be here now, would you? If you knew your place. ??? Is this all, looks like only half showed up. "Who''s that? I''m sure someone like that didn''t work at the castle." The other watchtower looks like its collapsed, and this one¡¯s taken over now? Did the entire castle fall? "I don''t know... You think the king''s having a hard time." Who!? Who can give the king a hard time? "You think you can shoot him down from here?" If you brought a bow and arrow, you should use it. "You want me to shoot up? It''s easier for them to hit us from this spot." So he''s saying he can try but he rather not. "Look someone came from the south tower." He stopped his horse right in front of us, its hoofs kicking in the air. "Hey, watch it." "You the only one?" It looks like it. I''m surprised even one of them came to support the Red King. "Yeah, none of them listened." It''s amazing you tried to talk to them. "It looks like only half of the guards showed up." Yeah, I guess this is it, waiting any longer is pointless. They still haven''t opened the gate; that means either the king is still fighting or he''s... dead. "Should I take charge or do one of you want to do it?" I rather one of you take charge, but I can''t wait any longer. "No... go ahead Samuel." "Yeah go ahead." "What about you general?" Come on old man you have the most experience with this kind of stuff. "I''m not a general anymore, just one of the troops." Ah, come on. Alright. Alright. "We warned him too." Hey now isn''t the time for that. Whatever happened already happened. There''s been a movement of a rebellion for the last week or so, but nobody could have predicted they would act so soon. "Now isn''t the time for that kid." Thanks, old man, you sure you don''t want to be the one commanding? "Haa~ Alright! Then everyone! I''ll be giving you your commands." We don''t know what''s going on inside after the horn was sounded there hasn''t been any communication. The people standing on the watchtowers aren''t listening to our commands so they''re probably the invading force. No one¡¯s opening the gates, and it doesn''t look like something we can break down right now. Should I send people to get some offensive scrolls? It''s a bit too late for that. Standing at gates with no way to attack; this is why I didn''t want to take command. Don''t even know what to say; what commands can I give? I turn my horse to the side to get a good look at the whole army. Should I ask how many of them have some scroll on them? Fuck. Trying to charge up with them having the vantage point is just stupid. It''s lucky that they haven''t fired at us yet. Why aren''t they firing at us with some scrolls or something? Did they run out or no commander to tell them? I took a deep breath to stall for some time; maybe all I need to give is a motivational speech. "Sir! We got the ladders!" Few horsemen came galloping holding a bunch of ladders. "Oh, good job. I told them to get a few before I came here. Thought we might need something to get over those walls. But with them standing there..." Old man, you''re a savior, I knew you should have taken charge. But, yeah with those guys up there we''ll be shoot down before we get up there. I jumped down my horse with the craziest idea I ever had in my life. "Everyone we''re going up!" I pointed at the ladders. "But we''ll be shoot down the movement we near." If it''s just anyone they''ll be shoot down without half a chance. "That''s why I''ll be leading the way. I''ll be the first to go up there. Everyone! Follow behind me!" That''s right I''ll go, I have perfected my Sword arts and Thousand Hand Strikes. I''m the only one who''ll be able to make it to the top. I arranged myself into a 3 man team; one I hope others can follow. It looks like they''re following. "Alright after I reach the top all of you follow!" I shout one last time and run with the ladder on tops of our heads. We drop it on the ground so I get a bit boost with the ladder; like pole vaulting. I leap up the rungs like a monkey, the few arrows that come flying completely miss me and in seconds I reach the top. ??? Hmm... So he''s letting me take charge. "How many are there!?" Don''t take so long, you don''t have to count an exact number¡­ give an estimate. What does it look like¡­ from up there? "More than 10,000!" Hmm... I thought there would be more. "But more are gathering... from everywhere." That makes more sense¡­ Yeah, spin around and look at every direction from up there; not just in front of the gates. There should be more than¡­ 45000 guards around the city and they should have all heard the horns. It''s set up like a chain but¡­ usually, the horn starts at the other end and reaches the castle. I bet this was a surprise. Hm Hm Hm. "T-t-tthey''re coming! They''re trying to climb up!" Can''t see a thing from here. Maybe I should''ve climbed up. Hmm... "The Red King''s reign is over, but the war is not. Behind that gate the ones who oppose us, the ones who deny humanities right full place have gathered¡­ Conveniently for us to crush. It is time we take what is¡­ rightfully ours. The gate will be soon opened and when it is¡­ show them your courage! Show them¡­ what you do to Traitors! Show them¡­ the power of humanity!" "OOOOHHHH!" Cheers erupted from the people, Hm hm hm. As I gave the signal to open the door, a soldier from outside had made it to the top of the wall. One of the warriors engaged him in melee and seemed to be losing. Hmm- I just charged them up¡­ To see their own get beaten now would be bad¡­ "[Sorcery: Fire Bullet]" Danial aimed at the man with his figure. His head burst into flames the next instant and he collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. "Open the gates!" Hmm¡­ If you were going to take charge the last minute you should have done it from the start¡­ Well, whatever. "Ready yourself men." This fight is going to determine our future. "OOOHHHH!" The moment the gates opened and the soldiers lined up in front of the castle could be seen. "Uno crush them!" Danial gave a command and the Golem that was right beside me vanished. Appearing again in the middle of the soldiers in a similar fashion to how the Red King had appeared in front of us. With bodies flying through the air. "OOOHHHH!" The warriors cheered again and ran towards the chaos. Maybe because of the chaos it took them a while to see the pole¡­ Maybe it took them a while to realize whose head was on it... Maybe because they were too busy fleeing from the Golem¡­ It took them a whole 5 minutes to surrender. Hm hm hm. "Sir, Should we chase after them?" "Hmm...¡± ¡°No, let them run. We won''t be able to catch all of them even if we tried. From the number of soldiers that showed up the lot of them still, agree with us. Zejimal sent a few of them to each watchtower in the city with the message ¡®the king is dead''. We''ll see what happens from there." Confusion is spreading out in a wave as those who witnessed the massacre ran. They have nowhere to run to in this city anymore. Mass panic and rioting will soon envelop the city, all we can do is wait it out... It''s like watching the fire burn itself out. "Then Ilmey, can you heal these guys?" "Our side was hurt?" Hm hm hm, the casualties and injuries on our side are minuscule. "Don''t make light of it Ilmey, some perished in the fight. They deserve respect, their lives were sacrificed for our victory." "Alright, alright," I said don''t make light of it¡­ and that''s what she says. "What''s with that look, don''t worry I''ll heal them. They still need to get Master Danial''s message to the rest of the guards." "Sir what should we do with them?" There were soldiers on the ground that surrendered, some were injured. They gathered to one side¡­ away from the field of corps. "Tell them to clean up their friends. And you make sure they do it properly. Move all of it over there." I have to point it out or they''ll fuck it up. Hmm¡­ We sent a few of the troops to corners of the city to gather the guards on our side, and to spread the news. We''ll figure out where their loyalties lie, either they will join¡­ or die. When the slaves find out¡­ they''ll surely try to run, Hmm... I wonder what he plans to do about that. After we assigned everyone¡¯s tasks we went back in the castle. "Shouldn''t you leave that here to defend?" Danial is taking the Golem back with him¡­ into the castle. It will serve a better purpose defending the gate. "No, they should be fine. Plus I rather have this guy beside me." "It''s completely covered in blood, I wonder what he''s going to say," Ilmey commented. "Shouldn''t we send someone to get him? I said we would when we were done here." Hmm... That''s right, we should get everyone on the estate, to the castle. The next few days are going to be lawless... after that, we''ll have to slowly recapture the city slowly, section by section. ??? When Omewa came back the only ones around were the slaves. The bestman tied up and beaten down with nowhere to run. "Where the hell is everyone!?" He shouted not really expecting an answer from the beasts. But he got one anyway. "They went out to fight the army." It was a yellowish dog bestman sitting on the floor like the rest with his feet and hands tied up. But he was alone, separated from the group and leaning against a Column. "Soldiers are gathering in front of the gate, from what I heard. They went to fight it." "And who are you?" "I''m a prisoner to the Red King and a slave to the old Yellow King... The name''s Flubo." "I see... Then I''ll go join them." ??? I ended up wasting time chatting with the maids. One of them even started playing chess with me, she''s quite good. I would say, she''s better than the Sorcerer, and Ilmey. Finally, after the game I was able to excuse myself to my room. After the door closed behind me, I activated my Ki Master class allowing me to feel the presences around me. I waited till the maids left the door to activate my teleportation skill. [Power of Hermes: Teleport]. And there I was in the dark passageway again, the same place the sorcerer teleported me to the first day. [Mage: Night Vision] [Explorer: No Footsteps] The only place that interests me here is the library. If I can find a few good books I''ll be happy. I opened the map and followed it to the library. Well, there is also some weird tunnel that leads to a weird closed cave according to the ninjas, but that¡¯s not important right now. They didn¡¯t find anything important in there. It¡¯ll still be good to map it though if I have time. The door''s locked. I didn''t even realize this door had a lock last time I came here, but it''s a good thing he let me in last time. [Power of Hermes: Teleport] There I was again in a room with bookshelves on each wall, stretching the entire height of the room. There were clearly too many for me to go through right now, I''ll have to wait till I remove the Sorcerer before I can take these out. They were all in the common language of this world, Hsilgn. [Bookworm: Translate] As one reads Braille I swiped through the titles with my fingers. The alphabetic jumbled in my mind, turning into words and then a jumbling of words produced meanings. They were not complete sentences but they have meaning, and some had grammar. As I swiped my hand across the books, some that caught my eyes were The Floating Island, The Gods, Without Kings, The Dystopia of Elsaavadore, Demons and Paintings, What is Democracy?, The Failure and Hope of Anarchy, Human Evil, Inconsistent Good, Magic Constants, Theoretical Magic, Unmagic, The 4 Continents, Fiction and The Dangers, Free Knowledge, Beastman, The Stars, The Unprovable, and The Catcher in the Rye. The last one caught my eyes because it shared a title with a book from earth. It could be translation error because of similarities of some kind. So I opened it up and tried reading it. The longer sentences were a lot less precise, more literal in meaning perhaps. But the story seemed similar, the first few pages at least reminded me of it. If I had a stack of paper I could use a better translation skill. It''s times like this when I wish I had specialized in creation instead of destruction. ??? They met each going the opposite direction. "Omewa what happened to you?" The Golem, Zejimal, the Sorcerer, and the apprentice girl; other than the Golem they all had a higher status in the rebellion. Having these eyes staring at him made his palms sweet. "S-so-sorry, I heard the~ army is attacking." "We already took care of them." Ilmey informed him. "I-I-" "What''s with the blood Omewa?" Omewa worried about his absence, but these people don''t seem to mind as they asked their questions, calmly. Taking a deep breath he calmed himself as well. "I had a fight with a butler. He was pretty good but don''t worry I won." There is no way he would mention the butler¡¯s already sickly state when he arrived. If it wasn''t for that he might not be standing here right now. "Aah, I see." The sorcerer nodded his head in approval. "Actually it''s great you''re here right now. We were just talking about how we need to send someone to the estate. Go down to the gate and tell them you need to go get William. They''ll set you up with a horse." They healed the horses more than the soldiers that surrendered, and got enough horses to send messengers. "Understood! Master Danial." He ran off before Ilmey could give him a message. "I wanted to tell him to bring the chess board." "Hmm... Really¡­ that''s what you''re thinking about?" "It''s just William''s good at it, so I want to beat him. A muscle brain like you wouldn''t understand." "Show me some respect, will you... I''m still your senior." "Hahahahahaha!" The sorcerer laughed happily to the two''s bickering. Chapter 14: Killing Horse Some saw the battle, some saw the pole at the gate, and the red hair swaying in the wind. And so the news spread. People who saw first told their neighbors. The fathers ran home to their families to flee. With their children, with what they could carry they fled the city on foot, on horse, on carriage. She saw a man cut a horse''s harness off a carriage, jump on it and ride off leaving the coachman dumfounded. She saw families climb the roof of a coach as it speeded on. She saw the humans hiding, but the beastmans couldn¡¯t do the same for they knew what was coming. She heard men and women screaming, she saw them dying. She saw a horse gallop with a smiling soldier. She saw his sword swing, taking lives. She saw adults crying. "Come on mom. We have to go." She pulled at her with all her strength, but she wouldn''t get up. "You go~ on honey~" Mother said crying and wheezing with each word. "I can''t~ can''t~ I can''t~" Her mind trembled, small words of prayer escaped her lips as she watched her mother cry. "You¡¯re strong Elizabeth~ you''re strong I can''t~ anymore~" She¡¯s never seen her like this, she put all her strength pulling at her arm, but they wouldn¡¯t budge, her mother kept covering her face. Her wrists are thin, but they wouldn''t budge. "MOM! We have to move! I can''t~" She yelled stinging her own throat, she was choking up something too. Holding it all in, it was a vow after all. The yell must have gotten through; mom finally looked at her. In her mother¡¯s tear-filled eyes, she saw... fear. In that moment Elizabeth felt abandoned, she visioned her mother¡¯s body naked. How many scars does she have, they¡¯ve bathed together and she couldn¡¯t recall. How much pain does she hold? "Mom~" She whimpered her lips trembling. Mom only looked at her for a moment, Elizabeth couldn¡¯t tell what her mother saw in her eyes, but mom quickly hid behind her hands again. "Mom~" She tried to get her to show her face, tried to hold her hand. "LEAVE ELIZABETH!" She punched her daughter, making her stumble back and fall. Elizabeth saw her eyes again, reddened eyes and tears. "GO AWAY!" Her mother screamed at her, and that''s what she did. She got up and ran away, turning her back to her mother. She didn''t run for long before she turned a wrong corner and saw a man with a smile. His teeth were so white. She froze in fear, she didn''t run from him in petrification. But he leapt at her, tackling her to the ground. She saw his fist. ??? With no guards in front of the estate, Omewa had to knock on the steel plated gates and hope one of the maids heard him. He could hear the sounds of chaos all throughout the town. It is a dangerous day to be out galloping around in the city. He banged on the gate again, this time louder. "Master Danial sent me!" He shouted at the gate hoping one of the maids would hear. He banged on the door again, and the gates clicked open just as he went for another swing at the door making his knuckles hit at an angle. "EaHE~" Grunting he clenched his teeth. The maid fully opened the door for him to enter along with the horse. Putting his pain aside he asked. "Has everything been okay here? Has anyone tried to break in?" The town was in chaos, it wouldn''t be surprising if a few greedy merchants or guards decide to break in here. "No, nothing of the sort has happened. If the Master has sent you... Warrior Sir, may I ask what''s happening?" He directed his horse inside, thinking over the maid''s question. "We''ve killed the Red King. The city''s in a state of havoc right now, and Master Danial told me to get William." The maid listened while closing the gate. The maid paused for a moment staring at the gate, her face turned away from Omewa. Spinning back, she spun around with a bit of spunk and showed her beautiful teeth. "That''s great!" Her radiance got him off beat, lost in her eyes and her teeth. "Uh~" The rate readjusted returning him to normal functioning order. "Hum* Wh-where''s Master William? I came to get him." "He''s in the guest room. Follow me." He tied the horse to the front porch. He couldn''t think of anything to say and the girl led him in silence. Soon they reached the door to the guest room. The maid knocked gently on the door, a refined tick of knocks, but no reply. Gentle turned to a stern and steady clack of knocks; no reply again. "Master William!" She raised her voice to the door, but no reply again. "I''m coming in. Sorry to-" The door is locked, and she is stopped before she could intrude. "H-he''s locked the door... He''s never done this before." She told the man waiting on her, sounding concerned. "If you can wait a few minutes I''ll go get the head maid." "Oh sure." With his thumbs up of an approval, she took to the hall, lifting her gown to get a good jog. ??? I left his office having wasted enough time reading Catcher in Pie, towards a spot that still remained dark in my map. The NPCs mentioned it in the report, so I''m curious enough to take a look myself. I reached the end of the hall where a giant set of golden doors stood before me. On the doors, 3 keyholes formed a triangle. There are indented carvings on the golden doors. Carvings of many angels, all floating in the sky, with one of their eyes closed. The angels on the left door had their right eye closed, and the angels on the right had their left eye closed. But all their eyes looking directly at me, or where I was standing. I stared back at them the best I can, but playing who blinks first with a carving is just stupid, so I stopped. They had a very eerie feeling to them. There was one keyhole right in the middle of the double doors, then a keyhole on each door. "Need 3, got none." Should I... It wouldn''t hurt to try. "Open says me." Nothing as expected, but maybe... "Open sesame~" No, nothing makes sense. How did the NPCs get in, did they pick all 3 locks at the same time. It''s probably 2 at the same time, then the other one, otherwise the Sorcerer¡¯s going to have a hard time too. Or one at a time, but has a certain order to it. I guess there''s only one way. I haven''t gotten to use this skill since I came to this world. "[Explorer: Open]" A skill that can be activated only once every 72 hours. The moment the skill activated I felt myself chasing infinity. A glimpse into the unfathomable world of infinite combinations, trying every possibility in the ever expanding universe. Where did it start, how long will it go till it opens. Phantom keys stretching out far and wide never reaching the horizon. An ocean of keys! No, an ocean is too small, too minuscule. Where did they all come from? Where do they all belong? Click* It all vanished as if it had never been, and here I am again in front of the doors slowly creaking open. I gasped for air, I felt an eternity had gone by since my last breath. What time is it? It felt like I was out cold for some time. It never felt like this in the game, things just opened in the game. I feel so taxed, but I can also tell that I can use the skill again. It wasn''t like the game at all, I feel like I''ll die if I use the skill again, but I think I can use it again. Then what about the- This isn''t something you should think of now, you can consider all that later. The fatigue I felt disappeared right away with a simple stretch. But I could still feel it somewhere, like a pain you only feel if you touched it, otherwise, everything is fine. Opening wide what greeted me is a... conference room? Gold and magical items spread about in the room but in the middle of the room is a round table, and on top of it is piles of gold. It looks very much like a conference room. Maybe he converted it into a treasury. [God Slayer: God''s Eye] High-end items laid about in the piles of gold, Sky Feathers, a Demon sword, and even an Angel summon figure. These look to be the rarest items here. I picked up everything that caught my eye. Bracelets with strange hieroglyphics and ancient writings that reviled nothing with my God''s Eye, and translated to nothing using the Bookworm class. The pictures meant words that didn''t make any sense. Moon Earth Dog Star Evil Man. That''s all the hieroglyphics around the bracelet meant. Gems with carvings, and swords with strange writings; there are many items of this type, but God''s Eye reviled nothing about them. They might have some historical significance in this world but in terms of power, they were useless trinkets. With this part of the Sorcerer¡¯s base recorded on the map, I headed back. As I climbed the stairs back up to the narrow passage, my Ki Master skill picked up people within my room. ??? "She gave me the keys." She said speed-walking past Omewa. "Let''s see..." Sorting through the large key ring, she picked the guest room key. She knocked one more time to announce that she was entering, and turned the key. No one was inside the room. She even went as far as to flip the relatively flat bed sheets, and check underneath the bed.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "Could he have gone to the bathroom?" "Maybe..." The maid was a bit perplexed, she opened her mouth to speak but said nothing. She turned to the windows and parted the curtains. She looked at the window, not through it. "It''s locked." losing herself in thought, she silently turned back to face Omewa. "The bathroom...?" She mumbled, "The door was locked. How could he have closed the door from outside?" He doesn¡¯t have the keys was what she was hinting at. "Hum~ that''s true." Omewa finally understood the reason for her confusion, as he pondered the same problem. "What''s going on?" Startled they turned to face the voice, and there he is William Shipudan. "How did you...?" "I got bored of sitting around, so I took a small stroll." He told the maid ignoring her half question. "Hope I didn''t cause any problems." turning to the warrior Omewa, for the maid stared at him with an open mouth stuck in the middle of a word. "Ah~ No problem at all... Master William." "That''s good. Now can I ask why you''re in my room?" "Yes, Master Danial told me to come get you." "So everything went well at the castle." "Yes, Master William. We have secured the castle but the city might still be a dangerous place, it''s best if you come with me." "And how did you come here, is there a coach waiting on me? Did you come with a group?¡± "No, nothing like that Master William. They let me use a horse." "Isn''t that a bit dangerous?" "You have nothing to worry about Master William. I''ll protect you with my life, after all, I am Master Zejimal''s disciple." "Is that so...? Is it fine if my coachman comes along?" "The one that brought the Golem?" "Yeah him, you guys took his carriage for the raid in the morning. Can he fit or..." William turned to the maid "do you guys have a spare horse?" "Ah~ they took all the horses within the estate to the castle today morning." "And I don''t know if the horse can handle 3 people." "Is that so...?" "You have nothing to worry about Master William, I''ll protect you with my name: Omewa Nolle!" He got his sincerity across with the volume of his voice. "Alright... I''ll leave it to you then." ??? The maid was still giving me a weird look as I got behind Omewa on the horse. I hope nothing happens, I don''t want to have to blow my cover this far in the game. "Hold me tight." He says... The last time I did anything like this was on a motorcycle with my uncle back on earth when I was like 10, and I didn''t like that, so I''m clearly not going to enjoy this. Why couldn''t they have sent over a female warrior? Because there''s like 2 of them. No, there were a bunch of female wizards. Yeah, wizards not warriors, and trust me you wouldn''t want to be around those female warriors. Don''t tell me what I wouldn''t want. Look, would you want to be with any of the female warriors you did see? I saw one with a tattoo on her face. I rest my case. No, I''m not saying I would want to beee~ with them; I''m just saying if I have to wrap my arms around a person I just rather do it with her than this asshole. "I''ll be off then." Don''t interpret my thoughts asshole. "Take care. You too Master William." "Thank you for all your help. And don''t worry about Master William I''ll be sure to protect him." "Thanks." "Good luck." She opened the gate for us. "You guys too, lock the gate and stay inside. I''ll try to get Master Danial to send a coach for all of you." Omewa sounded very serious and concerned. "Will do." That smile seems to have gotten to him that he blanked with his mouth open for a second. He squeezed out an "Uh~", before turning away from her to flick the rein, commanding the horse to a sprint. "Master William, may I ask you something?" "Um. Sure, go ahead." "This might be rude but it''s very important to me." Okay, are you going to ask or not. "Do you happen to know that maid''s name?" You have to be fucking kidding me. Why don''t you just ask her yourself? I''m not helping you get a girl. "I understand if you don''t." Fine. "I think it''s Alex." It''s either that or Alexandra, could be Amy too. It starts with an A. He became silent after hearing my answer. Probably thinking something along the lines of ''that''s a beautiful name.'' They always think that. "Thank you." For fuck sakes. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ Going straight would lead to the back of the castle, but we didn''t go straight or even use the main roads. He took the horse through narrow paths behind the commoner''s houses. Avoiding any scream, screech, and clack. "Help me! Help me! Please help me!" A man jumped in front of our horse, screaming and begging. It was so sudden the horse almost jumped into the wall to its side. Omewa had to pull back the rein, stopping the horse and almost throwing me off the horse. Then this man started to desperately claw on the horse, trying to climb on top it, pulling on both of us. Omewa gave him a good kick, dropping him back on the ground. "There you are." Came a deep voice from within the house. The man spun on the floor in utter stupefaction and stared at whatever was beyond the door he had just come out of. "No! Please! Please! I''m human~" Frightened and sobbing he begged the voice. "Why''re you doing this~? I''m-I''m human..." The voice finally reviled itself coming out the same door the crying man had, while the crying man kicked at the ground and crawled underneath our horse on his bum. The man was wearing a guard attire of Tengai. "Who''re yous?" A bleeding sword in one hand, he took hold of the Omewa''s rein. "You have to kill him! He''s a murderer~!" The man screeched from underneath the horse. "You shut up." The guard said looking underneath the horse, trusting his sword a few times to shut him up. He made a few odd sounds and kicked around a bit making the horse a little unruly; which he managed to control quite skillfully with his one arm on the rein. Perhaps instinctively Omewa unsheathed his sword, noticing the danger we are in. Drawing and attacking in a single move, he aimed for a kill. The rogue guard jumped back almost falling into the house, but he managed to grab the side of the doorway, stabilizing himself. He gave us a sickly laugh and a crooked smile. We have a horse, come on let''s run away. Omewa seemed to have become a bit too invested in the fight as they both stared each other down. The crooked smile disappeared in an instant along with his laugh, replaced by bloodthirsty anger. The rogue launched at us. Omewa swung to defend, trying to deflect the sword coming straight at him. Kicking the ground with his back feet, the rogue suddenly changed his trajectory. Omewa''s sword defending against air, the rogue stabs into the horse''s neck. "AH!" Realizing his mistake, he goes for an attack at the rogue''s head. Rogue jumps away from the horse, probably not even noticing the sword coming at his head, but dogging it none the less. The horse violently juddering between a jog, a run, and a hop, it goes down the narrow path to the end of the line of houses before tripping to a collapse on the ground. For fuck sakes, this is why I wanted to run. I push off the convulsing horse and stand up while Omewa was still having a hard time getting it together. Something bumps into me, I turn around to look and he screams. "AAAHHHA!" It''s the rogue, he has his arms wrapped around my waist. Oh! I step back and collapse on the ground, and the rogue falls on top of me. He was heaving on top of me while trying to hold on to his shoulder. Sorry, I didn''t realize. The rogue was trying to tackle me but I acted too late, so he hurt himself instead, running into me with all his strength. He must have confused himself because his pain soon turned to anger aimed at me. But before he could throw a fist, Omewa had freed himself from the horse and came to my rescue. Omewa jumped at him, thrusting his shoulder into the rogue effectively pushing him off me. Then he went into a barrage of punches leaving the rogue with a broken and bloody face. I got up and dusted myself off. "Are you alright?" He asked catching his breath having left the rogue unconscious in a near death state. "Really sorry about that Master William. It''s my fault. I should have ran when we had the chance." That''s what I thought. "I''m fine, so it''s not a big deal. It''s good we''re both fine." But the horse is dead now. He went to get his sword, which was thrown a few meters in front of the horse when it collapsed. "This is mostly his." I must have stared at his hands for too long, for he showed me the blood on his fist and pointed at the rogue. I wasn''t particularly paying attention to anything but okay. "The horse is dead." He announced the obvious. "If it''s okay with you Master William, we''re only a few kilometers from the castle so we can reach it on foot within 10, 15 minutes." It''s not like I can refuse unless you can magically make a horse appear. "Alright." "Thanks. Ah~ let¡¯s see..." He sheathed his sword while looking all around, working out our location. "Um~ if we go that way, I think we''ll be able to get to the castle without any problems." "AAAAEEEEE!" "Okay, maybe not that way... Hy hy hy..." I judge it took us about 30 minutes to get to the castle, with the twists and turns we had to take to avoid another run in with the locals. But we eventually made it to the castle, which was to my surprise a non-violent zone. The sorcerers and wizards at the top of the walls and watchtowers kept a look out around the castle. They supported the warriors on the ground patrolling the areas around the castle. The moment we entered this safe zone, everyone helped out and we smoothly entered the castle and was guided to the Sorcerer''s location. ??? "So they won." "That''s good?" She pours the steaming tea into the little cup. "I suppose so." The maid half mindedly says chewing a biscuit. Whether they won or lost, it was going to become complicated. "We warned''em and them still couldn''t... Do ya think we should''a went straight ta''the king. Instead of them guards." "I hope Olly doesn''t get caught." "If he does he better keep his mouth shut." The regret and consequences of trying. "As long as no one snitches everything is fine." "The wages are going to go down." "The beast people have it a lot worse." Disappointed frowns are cast on the young selfish maid. "We should have never taken part, we should have just done nothing." The fat maid who opposed it all along now gets to say ''I told you so''. "The king should have just stopped him from the get go. The moment he heard it. If I heard someone was trying to kill me, I''ll fuck them up first." "Language." "But the King called him, he called him over a week ago. What did they talk about? He should have put a stop to him then. Maybe if we acted sooner..." The smart one, Alexandra, listening to the conversation decided to say a few words: "There is no point punishing ourselves over it now. I think we were all glad when the Sorcerer returned safely that day, we hoped things changed but it might have been too late for things to change at that point." Now they wondered what they were trying to accomplish in the first place, having acted halfheartedly on a problem they never knew how to solve. What would the solution even look like? Desolate questions. They never knew why they tried, and they can''t tell what to feel now that it''s failed. No, they couldn''t even tell if it had, since they never knew why they were trying in the first place. "I''m thinking of asking Master William to hire me." "You think he will." "Well I think he likes me, and I¡¯m a hard worker. So why wouldn''t he? With how it''s going we''re going to get laid-off, or have our wages cut." "Alex''s been playing chess with him." They gave her looks of sarcastic envy. "It''s not just that, but he acts differently... You''ve noticed too, haven¡¯t you?" She looked to the head maid for confirmation. "Hum... Yeah..." Some of the other maids had question marks on their faces, annoyed and curious, feeling they had been kept out of something. "Master Danial''s nicer when people are around right? Well if you can use the word nice to describe him." She mumbled the last bit, and the maids nodded along in agreement. "But Master William''s the opposite, he gets nicer when people aren''t around. Especially when Master Danial or Master Zejimal isn''t around. It''s like he''s... putting on an act." The girls went silent in thought as they tried to recall their moments of encounter with the man in question. "You might be mistaking indifference for something positive." The head maid tried to bring them back to the grim realities of men. "He did help them after all." The maids understood the wisdom in the head maid''s words. "Well, I''m still going to try." Alexandra still had some confidence in her deduction. "There''s something else about him that..." That has made her curious, something about him that she couldn''t quite place. She drifted off to her thoughts again, a habit of hers the other maids had grown to accept. Chapter 15: Lithawk "William you made it!" He came with his arms spread for a hug, unable to resist I let it happen. "Any problems on the way?" He looked to Omewa the roughed up teen with a dry bloody fist. "Nothing I couldn''t handle Master Danial." "Hmm..." Zejimal took notice from the side. "Well, I''m glad both of you''re safe." "Thanks, Ms. Ilmey." "Sorry to ask this but Ilmey can you get us something to drink?" "Sure Master Danial." "Sorry about that, we''re having difficulties with the maids." "Oh, Master Danial can we sent out a carriage to get the maids, the estate is completely undefended." "Sure I''ll leave it to you." "Can I take some of the warriors with me since the streets are still a bit dangerous." "I said I''ll leave it to you." "Thank you." After they both left, Zejimal took off his gauntlet and extended his hand to me. The moment I took his hand he pulled me in closer and gave me a hug. "I must apologize, at first I didn''t believe you but now I see that I was wrong. You''re a good man." He patted my back a few times before releasing me. "No problem." "I''m glad both of you have become friends." The sorcerer patting both our shoulders. "But that golem truly is something amazing." "Hmm..." I don''t want to go into it. Don''t ask me too many questions, it''s just more lies I''ll have to write down. Let''s change the topic. "It''s covered in blood." "It became quite messy fighting the soldiers that showed up at the front. You must have seen the remains when you came here right?" Yeah, I don''t think I can forget a head on a pole anytime soon. It''s effective I suppose, barbaric but effective. "Aah~ How about we leave this pile of papers and go to the tea room." This large office room with piles of brown files scattered around the main desk. Kind of reminds me of my own office room in the Cave. There isn¡¯t much room for anything else but for work here. "Sure." "I''m sure someone knows¡­ about these papers Danial. Hmm¡­ we can ask one of the prisoners." Zejimal reassured the Sorcerer as we left the office and passed a prisoner. I was clearly not a part of the conversation, with references I couldn¡¯t understand. "We could''ve asked that butler if he hadn''t gone and died. I''m sure he knew about it." I don''t care and I want to ignore it all, but if you''re going to talk right beside me I''m going to hear. Then again it didn''t seem like they care if I heard it or not, making it even less important to me. "Hmm... The one you told me about, the one Omewa killed?" "Yeah... Let''s not talk about it now, let''s just drink some drinks and take a little break." You want to take a break now? "Yes¡­ a little drink." Zejimal had a grin too juvenile for an old man like him. We went into a giant room with white marble floors, glass windows for walls and a tea table at the center with two curving couches. We left Uno standing out not wanting to get the floor dirty. "How are the streets looking out there?" I suppose to include me in the conversation Danial asked me the moment we sat down. "Well... not good. We encountered a guard wearing Tengai''s emblem, a rogue guard, Omewa took care off." "Hmm... Sounds like chaos." "I see. You don''t have to worry I already sent my Lithawk for some help. We''ll get a reply back in a few hours." "We have reinforcements?" Why are they not already here? "I''m pulling in some favors, there were conditions, but with the Red King''s death I think she''ll be willing to help." I have no idea what you''re talking about, who''s ''she''? "Hmm... You really think she''s going to send her men." "She helped us already with the letter, why would she pull out now? If she wasn''t going to help she shouldn''t have sent the letter." So you guys are going to ignore me. Not like I care, I already completed my objective; the Red King''s already dead, all that''s left is to kill you and steal your books. "Can''t believe you guys didn''t invite me!" A joyous voice splits the door, a fat old man with a tenting belly smiled at us from the doorway. "You guys were planning to have a party without me?" He came walking towards us. Behind him, Ilmey''s holding three bottles of wine and following her is an Alpaca maid. It came with a tray of wine glasses and it also had 3 milk bottles filled with a colorless liquid. Ilmey put the wine bottles on the tea table, and took a seat beside the Sorcerer, while fat man Lagose took a seat beside Zejimal squeezing him closer to me. The maid set the tray down. "Master Danial, shall I go get some snacks?" "You read my mind Lami." She took a silent bow and courteously left the room. Danial points to her as she leaves the room to say: "She''s a good girl." That is a creepy thing to say, and haven''t I seen her somewhere, or is it that all Alpaca''s look the same. "Didn''t you buy her from me?" The fat old man says pouring some of the clear liquid in everyone¡¯s glasses. "Did I? It''s so long ago, I don''t remember." "It''s not a big deal, with the king gone I''ll make you another one like her in no time." He uncorks the wine bottle and mixes it in with the clear liquid. "I look forward to it." Danial takes one of the glasses motioning to a cheer, and so everyone joins in to tap glasses. "Cheers." "Cheers." "Cheers." "Cheers!" "Cheers..." I follow along and take a sip. "Cough*~ Cou~*" What is this? Is this even wine? "Hm hm hm hm..." Zejimal laughed and patted my back. "Another cheer for William, without who we could¡¯ve never accomplished what we have today." "Cheers!" The voices sounded, smiling at me. No, really you don''t have to include me in your club. "Without who we couldn''t have taken back our slaves!" "Cheers!" No, no, no cheers. I don''t need cheers for that, I just wanted to kill the player. Everything else is all of you. "No, no it''s not a big deal." Really it''s not a big deal, even if it was I didn''t have much to do with it. "Hahaha... So modest. I like that." I don''t give a fuck what you like. Just smile Verra, just smile. "No~ it''s nothing like that. ku~ ku~" "So what are we waiting for, when are we going to take back the rest of the city?" Thankfully the topic changed quickly, thanks to fat man Lagose. "We are-" he paused pouring a little more wine into his glass, "waiting for-" he takes a sip, and savors it. "Lameriy to send her troops." "Ah~ And how long is that going to take." "Don''t know I send the Lithawk, should get a message back in a few hours." "Can''t we take back the city with that thing?" Lagose pointed at the door. "The Golem? It''s not a good idea, we''ll have to return him eventually..." He looked at me and I nodded because it''s true, you do have to give it back. I''m not going to let you keep one of my strongest defensive mechanisms from my Data-House. "And there''s only one of it, it''ll have a hard time rounding everyone up. I think it might be great if you want to kill all the citizens. So it''s just best to defend and wait... to see what happens."The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Yeah, I don''t want everyone to see my Golem. "Can everything really be restored to the way it was, Master Danial?" "Hmm..." The sorcerer leans back, sinking into comfort. Looking far into the distance, relaxing his body he recites what he sees in his mind. "There are 4 million people in this country, half of which came here after the Red King took over. Those people will either try to flee or fight, if they try to stay and fight, they have another thing coming. To the ones fleeing let''s see how far they can go. I plan to see every single one of them caught and brought back here. As for the humans... we can take it one house at a time." He raised his glass. "Death to traitors." They all followed one after another they raised their glasses high and repeated the phrase. "Death to traitors." Finally, it came to me, and all eyes turned to me. Come on, this is peer pressuring. But I suppose I can agree with the phrase, even if it is not aimed at the same people. Yeah, I agree with the phrase. "Death to traitors." ??? "This was outside your door." Not knowing fully well how to hold it he brought the fighting and flapping Lithawk inside her office. Green feathered Lithawk, with a very bright light limey green feathers starting at its belly to a gradual darkening to a forest green as it reaches the tips of its wings. "Outside here?" ''Because I would have heard it'', implied her saggy and wrinkled face. "No, your bedroom doors Madam Lameriy." Having reached her desk he tossed the bird down, it flapped a few times before calmly landing on the papers. Fastened onto its back like a backpack is a detachable tube. "This god damn eh~" Having a hard time twisting the cap open she tosses it to her assistant, the tall man who brought the bird in, in the first place. Effortlessly catching it with his thin and long fingers, he twists the cap off. "Here" He tried to return the tube but was stopped by the Madam''s gesture. "Just read it to me Karkasa." She leaned back into her chair, watching the bird make itself at home on top her papers. He unrolls the piece of paper, pulls back his sleeves, adjusts his glasses, and clears his throat. "Hu* Ha*... I, The Core Sorcerer Danial, has successfully captured the Castle of Tengai. As per our deal, I ask for the 50,000 troops to be sent to Tengai immediately. The rest can be discussed at a later date." He rolled up the paper. "Wait that''s it?" "Hum... Yes." He unrolled it again to show that in that large paper there were only 2 lines. "That man..." She crunched angrily at the bird. "Our deal..." Her anger subsided on that thought. She extended her hand to the tall, blond and blue-eyed sorcerer. He handed her the paper he was holding. Upon receiving it, she plucked a feather off the Lithawk, it fluttered angrily readjusting itself to look at the perpetrator. She ignored the angry bird and dipped the tip in ink. "They''ll be there in 3 days." She said out loud, and she wanted to say a little bit more but managed to control herself. Rerolling the paper she handed it back to Karkasa, and he with difficulty reattached the tube with the message back on the bird. "Feed it something and send it off, and can you arrange the 50,000 troops." "Sure Madam Lameriy." She leaned back into her chair once more as the door closed leaving her alone in the room. "Haa~ Can you really save me?" She brought her wrinkled and shaking hands to her eyes. "Even my own children want me to step down." Clenched her fists at the thought. "Wretched ingrates." ??? What is this dog doing here? "Lagose why did you bring that in here?" I thought you went to the bathroom, and you come back with this. "Youa done''t knaw Flubo?" Are you drunk, what are you even saying? And why would I know this creature? Maybe I should head to bed as well. These two are already passed out. William left the moment the sun went down, I hope Lami was able to get him a good room for the night. "Flubo used to~ hiccup* used to work for me way back in the day. He''s a good guy Danial. I''m so blessed to have him, some of my old slaves are still alive too, isn''t that great Danial. hiccup* They were~ all wait-aing for me~." "That''s good to hear." Yeah, just go to sleep like that. And dog you can go, I think he just called you over because he was drunk. "And he''s training the king''s concubines right now. He says he can turn them into good girls in a few days. Isn''t he great? He was my best, I think he experienced it himself, so he knows what gets to them." That''s good to hear, but didn''t I give the concubines to the troops. "Hey, are you talking about the same concubines I gave to the warriors?" "You gave them to the warriors? When did you do that~ hiccup* Flubo''s training them now." So they are the same concubines, not that I care but... "Well give it back to the warriors when you¡¯re done with them." "Okidoki." And there goes another one. Maybe the Lithawk isn''t going to show today, but why? What''s taking it so long? They should have got the message hours ago. And what are you looking at? "You can go dog, I think he just invited you because he was drunk. Go do your job." "Yes, Master Danial, Right away." "Good dog." Maybe he''s another one like Lami. "Make sure you close the door... Yeah, good." ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "Master Danial the Lithawk came back. Master Danial. Master Danial!" "Hum~ What are you shouting about?" My head hurts. My eyes hurt, god. "The Lithawk is back. Sorry to enter without permission Master Danial Sir, but you told us to get you immediately when it happened." "Right...? How long have I been out?" "Sir? We can''t say... but you¡¯ve been in this room-" "I know how long I been in this room. What time is it now?" "Midnight Master Danial." I sent out the Lithawk before lunch and it took it this long to return. "Alright, where is it?" "Here it is Master Danial." This is what you should have done in the first place. Just give me the message without all that shouting. "And get me some coffee." "Yes, Master Danial." "Bring some for these guys too. I don''t know how they can still be sleeping through this." "Yes-" "And close the door." What''s with that look? Does he plan to challenge me? "Yes, Master Danial." Good. "Hey, all of you get up... Ilmey, get up." "Um, A~ what is it, honey?" "Sweetheart, go wash your face, you have some¡­ here." "Oh Okay." I should perform the magic ritual on her as well. When I ask for the ingredients, I''ll make sure to negotiate double the amount. "Hmm... What''s going on? Langose, get up." If he''s not going to get up even after being shaken like that... "Let him sleep." Okay, now let''s see what she send. "They''ll be there in 3 days." That''s it, she didn''t even confirm the number of soldiers she''s sending. If this is all she needed to write why did it take so long to send the message back? "Hmm... So we can assume she''s going to send the 50,000 troops." "''They''ll be there''... She must be referring to the 50000 soldiers." So it is safe to assume that is the case, at least I hope so. "3 days..." "You were listening Langose." I guess even you can''t sleep with all the noise. "With our own troops we can defend for 3 days, and if they try an organized attack we have the Golem." "About that; I was thinking we should give William a place here in the city, that way he''ll have something to defend." I was thinking the same thing Langose. I suppose great minds think alike. "Hmm... Sure I have no complaints but where? We have to think of the old nobles too." Yeah, a lot of people lost their homes around this time last year, they''re going to want it back. That''s the reason they supported us in the first place. "Let''s discuss all of this after I- we settle things with Lameriy... There are some details that still need to be dealt with." For the next 3 days, all we can do is hold the fort and wait. "Then I''m going to send a few men to capture as many beastmans as we can. Now''s the best time, before they all run away." "Don''t worry, I don''t plan on letting any of them get away." They can run but they can''t hide. Every single one of those vermin who dared look down on humanity, and on me will be punished for their sins. "Well, I''m going to get a head start anyway. I can''t just rest seeing all those products in front of me." Can''t rest... You weren''t the best slave merchant in the city for no reason. You might have even been the best in the whole world. That bastard king took everything from you, fuck. "Do what you want. I''m not going to be the one to stop you." You have a lot of work ahead of you to reestablish your company. "If you need any help... ask. We''re friends." No need to be so surprised. "What''s with that all of a sudden, but thanks. You already helped me out a lot but I think I''ll have to rely on you a little bit longer." Rely on me all you want. "Hmm... What about me I helped you out too." "Hahahahaahahaha..." "Cacacacacaca..." "How old do you think you are to say that?" "Age doesn''t matter with friends." "Hahahaha..." "Cacacacaca..." "Hmhmhmhmhm..." That''s true. "What''s everyone laughing about?" "Oh Ilmey, nothing important." O god, I think that made me cry. "Well, I''ll be off then." "Alright, Lagose." "Then I''ll go to bed." Go ahead, sleeping on this sofa can''t be good. "What everyone¡¯s done already? What did the letter say?" "Sorry sweetheart, yeah that kind of finished fast. Don''t worry I''ll explain." "Bye." "Oh- alright see you in the morning." He waited for just when I finished the sentence to say that. "Yeah bye. You too." "Alright later... Maybe we should get some sleep too." "Yeah maybe, we should get some ''sleep'', Ie ie ie." "Ha ha ha, the king''s chamber, my lady." "But first what did the letter say?" "Oh Right." ??? The dim chandelier lit her path down the glistening white crystal floor. The walls, the columns, and the ceiling were all made of the same material. On this crystalline surface were ever changing black webs on white, or white webs on black; it is impossible to tell. The morphing webs resembled the Rorschach inkblots. Never stopping, decomposing and reforming into some subtle subliminal message. "I''m late. I''m too late. Oh dear! Oh dear!" Her rabbit ears twitched more every second, with the tick of her pocket watch. She could hear it so clearly from her vest pocket, which she wore over her maid outfit. "I''m getting later by the second." Stopping 3 columns short of the stairs, she turned right into the 383rd hallway. Anyone who was not created by the master with the schematics planted into their minds since birth would find this castle too grandiose to live and work within. She is a proud creation of the master, a bunny maid, and right now she''s running late. Her pace quickened with every tick, till it became a full on sprint. Attempting to stop as she neared her destination, she skids on the smooth floor, topples down and rolls a few meters. Shaking herself off, she slowly gets herself up. Seeing a black mark where she had just skid she panics kneeling before it, giving it her utmost focus. Slowly the black mark decomposes, and she sighs in relief, wiping away her sweat. Before her are giant magnificent doors, 5 meters in height. It was made of the same material as the walls and had the same black webs, but on it is a carving of a maid wielding a sword. All the maid¡¯s rooms had some maid related carving on their door, but this is a particular one she enjoyed very much. But she had no time to reminisce. She knocked on the door rapidly with both arms before ceasing her madness and pocketing her hands. A head popped out the door, it had similar features to herself. Bunny years, but unlike her blue ears this one is pink, and this one¡¯s face was a little bit rounder. "What''s up?" "You''re late. As always." "You know I''m cool and fashionable. Don''t be a hater." "Goodbye." "No! Don''t close the door! I''m sorry! Nooo~ stop!" She fought the door attempting to close her out. "I''m sorry." The head popped out again. "Don''t do it again?" "I won''t scouts honor." The door slams in her face. "Nooo!" ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "What''re you doing Mai." "Leslie''s late again. Should I leave her out there?" "It''s fine, let her in. We''re still getting the cups ready anyway." "Fine~ I don''t think it''s good to leave it unpunished... but if everyone wants to let her in...?" "Yeah, yeah just let her in! I want to eat cake already! Cake!" "Fine~ if everyone wants to the-" "Just let her in!" 10 voices collided and amplified, bashing into her ears. She reluctantly popped her head out again. Instead of a remorseful bunny what she got in return was an idiot trying to fight her way in, trying to squeeze her way in through the small gap. "You can come in but you better not be late again." Leslie instantly ceased her fighting, on her face appeared an arrogant smile, wide and full. "They didn''t listen to you, did they? Be be be." "One of these days they''re going to realize what you are." "Sure, sure, now let me in." Mai left the door open returning to her seat. Looking around for any spies she entered the room, closing the door behind her. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "Let us commence the 5th meeting of the MaJ. Since Mai led us in the MaJ''s oath last time why don''t you lead us this time, Sercy." "Sure..." All 22 eyes focused on her. "Come on Sercy! I want to eat cake! Say the oath!" "That''s a lot of pressure, don''t look at me and I''ll be able to say it." "Are you sure you didn''t forget?" "I didn''t forget. Close your eyes and let me gather my thoughts." They had never closed their eyes before when it came to the oath, but they complied for Sercy. "Everyone has their eyes closed right?" "Yes, go on already." Sercy looked closely to make sure all eyes were closed and not focused on her. After she was 100% sure, she slowly put her hand down her chest and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Carefully unfolding, not to sound the crumbling of paper, she brought it in front of her. "The master belongs to just us. Don''t waste our time making a fuss. Taking him away from us! What a crime. Those who try shall be put to grime. For Maids are Justice!" "Cake!" She yells, stuffing her face with what she yearns. "Where''s Zwanzig?" "Yeah, where is she? Without her how are we supposed to figure out what to do next?" "Death to Stella!" "Calm down Aislin, and eat your cake. And she isn''t coming today. She''s busy with work." "Then what''s the point of meeting up today?" "Yeah~ Wa''s te point!" "Chew with your mouth closed." "I wanted to discuss some other matters." "Other matters? Like what?" "We all agree we need to get rid of Stella, and we can figure that out when Zwanzig is around but what about after. What makes you think Master Verra won''t just replace her with some other whore. He''s already done it once with Rosey." "Hmm..." "Oh..." "Yea..." "You have a point." "I know. We need to figure out how to make our values be known to the Master, so the next time he replaces his assistant one of the MaJ is hired." "But doesn''t getting rid of Stella come first?" "By then it''ll be too late. This meeting is to discuss ''how to show the value of MaJ members to Master Verra''." Chapter 16: Part-time Pirate "So you were the Red King''s assistant." "Y-yes Master Danial." "What''s your name?" "I-it''s Emali~." Her voice cracked like a hyena. She looked like she wanted to apologize for being scared. I don''t know why I''m here, to be honest, I just happened to be here when the warrior brought her over. Her face is red, blue and bulging. She looked sore all over. The flesh underneath her left eye is torn, which draws my attention quite a bit, I can''t ignore it. Fucking gross. It looked like whoever did this really enjoyed beating up women. You can''t get this kind of work without someone really enjoying it. It''s not work if you''re having fun. What the hell''s wrong with me? I just don''t want to be here. "I been looking around for a report, but I just can''t find it. Perhaps you know where it is since you were his assistant." "Here clear your throat." Ilmey offered her a cup of water. Her blue eyes were as cold as the water she offered. I don''t know the actual temperature of the water so it''s hard to judge, but it looks very cold. The Sorcerer was kind enough to wait for her to take a sip, matter of fact it looked like the conversation wouldn''t continue unless she drank the water. She held the cold cup with both hands, allowing it to drain her warmth, she took a small sip. She made gulping it down look painful. "Now, the report I''m looking for should have come from one of the guards, perhaps one of the guards stationed near my estate. This report should have come around a week ago, maybe a little bit earlier. Do I need to elaborate anymore?" She''s purposefully trying to not make eye contact with the Sorcerer, staring at the cup, the water rippling from her trembling. What she''s thinking I can''t tell, but whatever it is, probably isn''t something she could tell the Sorcerer. The air turns heavy with every second, uncomfortably dense, everyone waits. The warrior standing behind her, Zejimal on the other side, the Sorcerer, the apprentice, and me, we all waited for her response. "-" Her mousy voice cracked something inaudible to the human ear. "Ms. Emali I didn''t catch that, do you mind repeating it?" What a gentle smile the Sorcerer wears. It''s good she didn''t look up to see it. "I don''t know." Her mousy voice barely made it to our ears. But we did hear it, and it wasn''t something the Sorcerer wanted to hear. His smile turned to a frown. "Then perhaps you know someone who does?" "I don''t know." She shook her head, repeating her favorite phrase. She has a very cute voice, despite the occasional cracking. "Then what do you know!?" His anger made her spill some of the water. "Look at your Master when he''s talking to you!" She was trying to hide behind the cup in her hands, still looking down, but the warrior standing behind her didn''t like that. He pulls her by the hair, to revile her teary eyes to all of us. Golden eyes, same as her hair. She would be beautiful if she wasn''t so dirty. "That''s enough Manerk." I didn''t think the Sorcerer would sound like the reasonable one. Manerk, so young yet so cruel. He looks about the same age as Omewa, they''re just teenagers but already part of a military coup. I suppose I shouldn''t judge them by earth standards. At least Omewa looked softer, this guy looks like a barbarian. I suppose it suits his warrior title. "Now Ms. Emali I''m willing to make a deal with you. Tell me where the report is and I can set you free, I''ll arrange for a carriage to take you anywhere you like. What''s important to me is who send the report. If you can help me, then I can help you." For a race hating preacher of human supremacy, you''re pretty good at interrogating. She looks at the Sorcerer''s eyes for a few moments, then closes it. With tears flowing down, she whispers. "I don''t know." Clear without a crack for everyone to hear. "Manerk, take her to Lagose. Tell him he can stop, when she wants to talk." So it''s back to torture then. The good cop act didn''t last long. Then again it wouldn''t have worked, given he''s trying to turn her and her entire kind into slaves for humanity. There isn''t much ''good'' there. Well, what''re you going to do? If at first, you don''t succeed, try, try again. Manerk took her away by the hair with the cup in her hands. "Why did you offer her freedom, she clearly knows where it is and she was one of the Red King''s closest aides." The conversation started the moment the doors closed behind them. "Hmm... I think the same, but Danial, you must have a good reason." "Of course, it''s Master Danial." She immediately retorted to save face. To them both, he had a simple answer. "Who ever said I was going to keep a promise with a demi-human." They both had Os plastered across their faces. "It was just a small lie." Both their faces turned red, even the brutish brown faced Zejimal was trying to hide his embarrassment. The old Sorcerer gave them a sly smile. Finally, he turned to me. "William, you wanted to know how long this was going to last?" Yeah, that''s why I came here in the first place. When can I go back home, with my Golem? "Yes, how long are we going to be stuck in this castle?" "Didn''t you get the news?" I don''t know what you''re talking about, so clearly not. "Right you went to bed quite early yesterday. And then we didn''t get time to talk, did we?" Yeah... we didn''t. "Well, the Lithawk came back. Troops from Nolybab will be arriving in 3 days. So perhaps in 4 days the city can start functioning again. That might be a bit early but we can start moving around the city more freely at that point." "I see." Then I''ll see you in 3 days. "Then if you don''t mind, I''ll be spending some time in the castle library." ??? "So they want me to make her talk?" "Yes, Mr. Lagose, that''s what Master Danial said." Now, how am I supposed to make her talk? I already have enough trouble dealing with the new ones they''re bringing in every minute. The City''s a buffet of all kinds of products right now. Ca ca ca, I have to give it to the Red King for gathering them all for me. "Bring her here." What did they do to her face? These are going to leave some permanent scars, what a poor job. This isn''t salvageable, even some of her teeth are gone. She could have sold for 100, now I''ll be lucky to get 10. "Who did this? The woman shouldn''t be handled like this. This is terrible." "Gary, Mr. Lagose, I got her from him." "Who the hell is Gary!? Tell him not to touch any of the slaves!" "Yes, Mr. Lagose." What''re you standing there for? "You can go! I''ll take care of this." "Y-yes." This is what happens when amateurs try to break in slaves. Right now the only one I can trust is Flubo; getting myself a few more trainers is the first thing on the list. ??? Knock* knock* knock* "Come in." "You called me Master Danial." "Yes. Omewa, I want you to do me a favor¡­ Can you read?" "Yes, Master Danial. My mother taught me to read, she used to work for a merchant, so-" "That''s good, Omewa. Now, I want you to go through every single one of these files and separate any that mentions me or the estate. You don''t have to look through these, this pile''s already been checked. Everything else still needs to be looked through thoroughly. I don''t mind you taking your time, but I don''t want you to rush and skim. Take your time but don''t miss anything. After you¡¯re done this, there are more in the king''s chambers. Now I''ll be just outside. If you need anything don''t hesitate to ask. Any questions?" "No... Where should I put the separated files?"The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "Just put them here. If you find any with my name or any mention of the estate just put it here." "Alright, will do Master Danial." "Good, now if you don''t have any more questions, I''ll be just outside." "No, I''m good." "Um. By the way, good job with escorting William, and the maids as well." "Thank you, Master Danial." "Alright, now get to work." "Yes." ??? "Good job. That was certainly a level 5 spell." He still needs to improve his control, but I''ll let him have it for now. I don''t want to rain on his parade just yet. "I did it!" "Yeah, you did." For this world''s standards reaching level 5 in Mage is pretty amazing. This kid might have unbelievable talent. If someone who underwent normal training to become a Mage saw him they might be able to evaluate him better than I can. Since he''s my first student, I don''t know where to set my scales. "Now we can start Summoner?" "Yeah, now that you''re a level 5 Mage we can start your training in Summoner." "Yahoo!" The kid really wants to be a Summoner, and I thought I''ll need to bribe him into doing what I want. Well, it''s fine, but after he learns how to Summon he better go out there and join the Drug-Ring. "Alright, calm down. What do you want your first Summon to be? A slime is probably the simplest, swarm of cockroaches are a lot scarier against an opponent, a Picakhu might be more fun, there are a lot of them but I think these three are the best. So which one do you want to learn?" Don''t just hold out your arm, if you want the book, then ask. "You want to see for yourself?" "Yeah." I hate kids. You let them stay at your home for a few weeks, and they just make themselves at home. Fine, here. What are you looking for? Don''t- Careful that''s a one of a kind, and very rare grimoire. "Where''s the Dark Knight you summoned before?" "That''s a level 8 Summon, this book only has level 1 Summons." "Oh." Yeah, ''Oh''; you have to start with these ones, you don''t expect to have that much power from the get go. Why am I letting a kid get to me? "Yeah, so now pick which one you want to learn from the ones in this book." "But I didn''t notice any I liked in here." Are you serious? I''ll strangle you to death, kid. You do realize, I''m not keeping you around out of the goodness of my heart right? No, no he doesn''t. Calm down Verra, I mean Derraacs, just calm down. "Look, Emmanuel you have to start form-" Wait, there might actually be a way. He always gets wide-eyed whenever I take out anything from my Slots. "This book is a little different from the one you''re holding. You can gain level 1 in Summoner using this too, the process is just a little bit different." Ask! God dammit, don''t just hold out your hand. "Give me that one back first." Good boy. Let me put this back in the Slot it belongs. "Alright, here you go." This has level 1 Summons too, but they''re a lot harder to learn. All the creatures in there are taboo. ??? "Master William, what a coincidence to see you here." Yeah, I didn''t think I''d see a maid in the library. "I''m glad to see that you made it safely." I heard Omewa escorted them, wonder if they ran into a nutcase on their way here too. "How kind of you to be so concerned." I''m not, it''s just a figure of speech. Well if you''re happy I don''t really care. You''re going to sit right beside me, why? Is this common courtesy or do you just like sitting awkwardly and quietly beside someone. Just ignore her and read your book. "May I ask what you''re reading Master William?" No. "It''s a history book, criticizing the Omron Church''s Crusades." "Has Master William ever been to the Kingdom of Nolybab?" Technically no... But the collector William should have traveled all around the world. Also, my clone is there right now, so yes. "Yeah, I''ve been there a few times." "I want to visit the Casinos. I heard from a friend that her mother''s friend''s son''s wife hit the jackpot there. She used to be a maid like me but she runs a business now. She even divorced her husband and got married to some younger guy." I don''t care. Why are you telling me all this? "That sounds like a hectic person." "Ch ch ch, yeah she''s nuts. Master William, can I ask when you¡¯re going back to..." "Back home?" You don''t know where it is because I don''t want you to know, but if you ask I''ll have to say one of the islands up north. Those islands seem hard to get to for most people, and a nice place to isolate anyone who might come from the mainland. I thought about it and that''s the best place to have a fake home. "Yes, I heard Master William''s from..." "I own an island up north." Amazement, shock, envy, those eyes are full of them. "Master William owns an entire island." Technically, yeah, Verra has taken over multiple islands up north so yes, I do own an island. "That''s amazing." She seems to have come out of it with skepticism. It''s true, I do own an island. "Is it that hard to believe?" "...If Master William says so, then I''m inclined to believe." She doesn''t seem to be staring at me but into space, trying to connect some invisible dots. "That Golem is very powerful." It is¡­? "Thanks?" She nodded her head and went back to reading some book. I want to run my fingers through it, but that would probably seem weird. We sat there for some time, in silence reading our own books of choice. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "Master William, I think I better be off. My break time has ended." "Is that so? Well, take care." "I''ll be going back to the kitchen. Would you like me to get you anything?" "No. I''m fine." "... Alright." Did she want me to ask for something? So she could come back here, and sit with me till I finish whatever it is. It would be work and she would get to do what she wanted. Sorry, I didn''t realize. I would have asked for something if I knew. I''ll ask for something the next time if she comes back. So the 3 days went by in the same way, with Alex finding me in the library during her breaks. Even though I didn''t want anything I learned to ask for something when her break ended, that way she got to come back to the library and continue her reading till I finished the snacks she brought over. The 3rd level in my Deathless class allows me to live without any food, so I mostly just let it go cold. And when it becomes far too cold, she takes it away after giving me a bow. As the 3rd day came to an end, and the sun shimmered by the horizon, the 50000 soldiers from Nolybab made it to the front gates of our Castle. I was curious enough to step out of the library, where I got a glimpse of the Sorcerer greeting a very old lady. She wore a very gaudy dress adorned by gems, but none of that could distract you from that bagging face and boobs. She might have had a fine tanned complexion in youth, but it has clearly darkened with age. There was no way I could have forgotten that face, it was the same grandmother introduced to me during the party a month ago. Now her name is a complete mystery to me. The two disappeared into the tea room, the doors closed and they were left alone to chat. ??? "So when do you plan to keep your end of the deal, Danial." You''re still not old enough to be calling me ''Danial''. But since you look like that I''ll let it go, ha ha ha. And what is this about my end of the deal. "Lameriy I am thankful for your help, without that little letter you help sent, the king might have been a tougher opponent." After seeing that Golem in action, I don''t think that''s true anymore. Even without Nolybab''s letter, I think we would have done just fine. "But was that not a favor for saving your son''s life." Did you already forget that I was the one who saved your son''s life? Without me, he wouldn''t have grown up to be the fine little turd that he is today. "Sorcerer, you!" "I''ll keep true to the rest of the deal when you help me retake the city and round up the slaves." "You''re not trying to pull a fast one again. Are you Sorcerer!?" "Again? When did I ever pull a fast one, to begin with?" "Then what was the Vanishing Temple!?" "Did I not cancel before anything could happen? In what way did I pull a fast one, we merely talked. It was just a discussion, did you have to take any actions." "You!" And it''s been so long since then, let it go. "Now, Lameriy I care about you, I''ve known you since you were a young girl. Don''t you know me well enough to know I wouldn''t do something like that to you?" Don''t give me that look of ''No, I don''t know.'' "I need your help, help me retake the city and I''ll give you a quarter of the land like we agreed." "I don''t care about that, at my age money means nothing, and you know that very well." "Yes, I do. Here." "What''s this?" "A list of everything we need for the ritual." Yes, read through it carefully. Some of it might be a bit difficult to obtain but with your connections and wealth, it should be simple. "Don''t worry I didn''t forget. When I''m crowned King, quarter of the city, and my magic will be yours." "Very well, but you are warned if you try some-" "You have no reason to be concerned." Where is that gambling Lameriy that I''ve come to know? You''re sounding more and more like a mean old lady. We came in this room so hastily that we don''t even have any tea. "How about we have some tea, and I''d also like to introduce you to someone of my new friends. Maybe you remember, I was trying to introduce him to you at the party." Will you just put that piece of paper away for now. You don''t need to memorize it, I''m not going to snatch it away from you. "Also don''t let Karkasa, or that Witch Ena see it." "Why not!?" "With the ingredients alone they won''t be able to create my magic, so it''s best if you keep it away from them." I understand they''re your trusty aids, but they won''t be of any help to you. I''ll take your silence as a ''yes''. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "Lami, were you waiting out here the entire time." The maids behind you too. "Yes, Master Danial, we didn''t want to disturb you." So you just waited out here. "I''m happy to hear that Lami. I''ll let you set it all up." This room is becoming less and less of a tea room and more of a booze room. "All done Master Danial." There isn''t even enough room for everything on the glass table. Are they going to stand there holding their trays the entire time? Ha ha ha, they are. This is how servants should act. "Lami, can you go tell everyone to come to the tea room." ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "Everyone, tomorrow we take back our City and re-forge our alliance with Nolybab. Cheers." This little tea rooms now turning into a ballroom. I don''t mind the maids but... "Manerk, come over here." If you haven''t noticed you''re the only warrior here. Even the sorceress aren''t here, and there is a reason for that, this is a gathering for us. You stick out like a sore thumb here, this isn''t a place for commoners. Your job is to follow orders, without our guidance you''d be just a barbarian that can barely be considered a human. Like the commoners who sympathize with the demi-humans and beastmans, I''ll need to figure out a way to separate them from the actual humans. "Yes, Master Danial." Give me that wine glass, they sever beer in the homes don''t they, this is expensive. "Go outside and keep watch no one else enters the room. Make sure to close the door behind you." Only a nod, no ''yes, master''. Make sure no one comes in, including you. ??? "I think both of you met for a brief moment last time, but you ran away before we could talk." I didn''t run away. That time, I didn''t feel well. "I''ll introduce you both again. This is Lameriy Hctiblive, a noble woman from the Kingdom of Nolybab. And this is William, a collector of rare things. The Golem you saw outside is his." It would''ve been better if you didn''t say that. "Hello, nice to meet you." I don''t like meeting people, especially in a formal setting. "That Golem is yours? I''m intrigued." She presented her arm to be kissed. It was wrinkly, old and squishy soft. This is gross, I don''t want to put my lips on this. Endure Verra, I mean William, Endure. I performed the disgusting act, and she carried on firing inquiries about the Golem. The Sorcerer wasn''t helping, he kept telling her more information than she needed to know. Thus one item after another came up, that was supposedly in my collection. Thankfully the Sorcerer filled in some of the gaps on how I got the items because I was starting to forget what I told these people. Got to read through my book of lies again. I was somehow able to steer the conversation a little south, about her voyage. Apparently she likes to take to large voyages through the sea. The Sorcerer left us alone to chat, probably because she''s told these stories a hundred times before and he didn¡¯t want to hear it again. Her travels are mostly taken to the south, or southerly directions. "The first time I went on one of these voyages was the scariest, perhaps because it wasn''t really a voyage." She got a very devilish grin on her face. That face can''t look anymore gross, but it could apparently look creepier. "I was kidnapped as a small child. I think I was around 10 then, I was so cute back then." Happily smiling she rubbed her face in reminiscences. "By some pirates. Taken to the middle of the ocean, they tried to ransom me. For which they succeeded for a brief moment, before my father chased them down with the entire fleet of the Hctiblive family, massacring them all. Ko ko ko, but I found it to be fun. I got to see some amazing sights." "That''s nice." "Now whenever I see some pirates during my voyage, I blow them up." "That''s nice." I know pirates aren''t model citizens to be sympathized with, and I don''t really care but it must suck if they ran into her on the ocean. "Do you have a flag?" If she has her own flag that pretty much settles it; she''s a part-time pirate. "Yes, yes I do. Ko ko ko, it''s a skull giving a wink. You know how those pirates love their skulls. So I thought I''ll have some fun." "Ha ha, that''s funny." She''s a part-time pirate. ??? "What about you Stella? Where do you think we should build it?" "I think this will be a good spot Mater Verra." Did she just point to it, because it''s the biggest island on the map? "Because it''s the biggest?" "Yes, Master Verra." I thought woman cared about more than just size. "Because it''s big huh?" "Yes, Master Verra." Let''s move away from this topic. "Did you finish editing the first half?" I''m almost done the second half of the book when that''s done... Well, there''s still a lot to do before we can start spreading it around. "I must apologize, I''m not completely through it yet. I apologize for disappointing Master Verra''s expectations." "No, no it''s nothing. Don''t worry about it. I''m not done writing the second half anyway... so take your time. I only asked out of curiosity." "Thank you, Master Verra." There''s no need to thank me. Well, whatever. Chapter 17: Just Begun I thought I would get to go home after that old lady showed up, but it''s already been 3 days and I''m still here. I finally convinced the Sorcerer to let me go tomorrow. I think he realized he couldn''t get me to stay much longer before angering me. He even offered me some land, I don''t know if that was to get me to stay or not. I''ll be coming back so I accepted it graciously. It does seem like everything is progressing well for the Sorcerer. The city''s coming under his control, law and order are returning to the streets, and all the beastmans are being rounded up. If you step out the castle it''s absolutely gruesome out there, it''s open hunting season on beastmans and demi-humans. They''ve turned their own homes into concentration camps for their enslavement. I saw these two soldiers chucking women, they''re beastmans, but still, chucking them right into the back of a carriage. All beaten up and bloody probably didn''t have much strength to fight back. I suppose it''s not that bad for the 3rd or 4th one since it has something soft to land on. Still pretty gross, that''s why I stay in the library. I could kill him right now and take the book, but it wouldn''t gain me much, except a book. I still need to figure out a way to bring this country into my control, without really bringing it into my control. Which is a harder thing to do than bringing it simply under my control. I have to go home and think over this properly, can''t make an emotional decision like killing that fucker. He''s acting on his own, what I need is a real puppet. Till now our goals coincided. But now... He might still be useful. Other players should start hearing about the Red King''s death and having the Sorcerer crowned king is good bait. Then again if he gets caught I''ll get exposed, but who am I? William Shipudan a collector. Having him as the target of players is still better than it being me. He''s still not under my control, though, and that leaves a bad taste. Our goals could coincide again. Why do you even need him under your control? Why? What do you mean why? How else am I supposed to control the world from the shadows? But what are you going to make him do after you take control of him? What am I going to do? Yeah, what''s your plan? To control the world from the shadows. Then what? ...Yeah, I need to think over this in the silent chambers of my underground base. I''m sure I just can''t think of it here because of the noise. I knew it all made sense before. No, I know it all makes sense, it must make sense... "Master William, are you okay?" "Y-yes, why do you ask?" I''m still on page 10, I''m feeling too shit to read right now. "It''s nothing, I thought you looked a bit unwell, but it might have just been my imagination." "Ah~ I''m fine, thank you for your concern." What a gentle smile, I don''t think I''ve ever smiled like that. Why does it just depress me? "You''re doing it again?" "Am I? Sorry. Can you get me some of that tea~ you always bring over? What was the name again?" "Peko?" "Ha, Yeah that. Sorry, just blanked there." "No worries, I''ll go get you some now." I suppose this behavior looks fine on an old man. Isn''t this her break time? That''s awfully nice of her, but I did help her skip work for the last, what? 5, 6 days. So it evens out. What I need to do right now is calm down. I''ve been outside for too long, my emotions are surfacing without my control. Surrounded by these people I don''t want to be surrounded by. I need to bury myself back in my den again, hide myself from the world. Then I can reapproach this problem with a healthy mind. So, for now, I should do nothing, and see what happens. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "Thanks, sorry to have to make you work during your break." "I''m happy to assist, Master William." Why did you become a maid? I want to ask. But I feel that''s a stupid question. Nobody ''wants'' to become a maid, you just do. And if they''re happy to be one, then that just means whatever else they could have ''become'' was that much worse. "Master William, can I ask you something?" "Sure, go ahead." "You''ll be leaving Tengai tomorrow, right?" "Yeah, the Sorcerer finally agreed. After he''s inaugurated as the Green King, I''ll be heading north. It might turn out to be a bit late in the evening but yes, I plan on leaving tomorrow." Tomorrow I''m getting out of this place. I''m tired, bored, and completely out of it. "Then can I come with you?" "What?" "Master William you¡¯ve been very nice to me and the rest of us maids, and if you''ll have me I''d like to work for you." "No, that''s not true." No, really, that''s not true. Is it because I helped her skip work? "Yes, you are! Soon the Sorcerer won''t need us anymore." "That''s not true. He''s going to be the king, he''ll need more helpers if nothing else." If she''s worried about losing her job, I don''t think she has anything to worry about. "Perhaps, but he''ll ''show'' us we''re not needed. That we''re replaceable, he''s... Sorry, he''s your friend." No, he really isn''t. "Don''t worry my lips are sealed." That smile tells me you already knew that. He voice turned into a quite shout, a plea for understanding. "If you didn''t have steady work you''re always worried about falling into debt, then if you couldn''t pay that off the next thing you know you''re in a cage being peered at by fat old rich men." Her expressions turned grimmer as she sat there staring at me. As she realized her emotional words have not moved me, she drew herself away, gathering her thoughts. Perhaps she realized she was talking to a rich man. In her melancholy thoughts, the library grew quieter. "Alex, were you..." "No. A friend." You don''t have to smile to tell me everything is ''fine''. I might not be able to understand your thoughts or your grievances. The reasons might be different but I understand not wanting to smile. "Alex, I can''t take you with me." Because everything about me is a lie, and I don''t really have a home in the islands. "But, The Sorcerer offered me Koa.... Cornoly-" "Cornholyo Beauregard the 3rd, Master William?" "Yeah him, The Sorcerer''s giving me his old property. So I''ll be back and when I do come back, I hope you''ll still want to work for me." "I see." She seems a bit disappointed. "Thank you very much, Master William." Changing her expressions like an actor she puts on a bright smile. Even if it is fake I can''t do anything else, the only other option I see is sending you to Derraacs. We¡¯ll need more helpers when we open up the Pharmacy store. But I can''t do that because that would expose our relationship. So it''s not really an option. You''re just going to have to wait for me to return. And I don''t know why you think I''m so much better than the Sorcerer, you barely know me. "May I ask when you''ll be returning?" "Perhaps in a few months, about 3 or 4 months."If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "3 months... That''ll be great. I''ll look forward to your return." Sure, do whatever you want. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ Next morning I woke up to find a horde of maids and slaves cleaning the castle. The cracks and dents along the columns and walls still remained from the Red King''s demise, but the dust and crumble have been cleaned up. Flubo''s overseeing the slaves, he greets me the moment he sees me. "Master William, what an honor it is to have your presence bestowed upon me." He bowed deeply, keeping his legs straight I thought he might touch his toes. And his words sounded... sarcastic? I heard from Alex he''s a strange one, a slave that supports the subjugation of beastmans. He''s dressed up in a suit that doesn''t quite fit his dog body, his tail strangely sticking out of his pants, and everything was stretched that something will pop apart. "You¡¯re doing a good job here¡­ Alright, get back to work." "Thank you, Master William." I wasn''t sure what to say, but that seemed to have gotten him back to work and ignoring me. Today I get to go home, but I''ll have to stick through the new king''s inauguration before that. It''s all going to happen downstairs, everyone¡¯s going to gather in the throne room and he''s going to be crowned in front of his people. They all have to genuflect to the new king. So I''m going to skip that and read a book in the library till all of this is over. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "Master William there you are." Alex, is the party already over? "What time is it?" I suppose it''s been a while since the sun went down. "Master Danial, or should I say his Majesty is looking for you. Were you here the whole time?" Did he notice I skipped out on his inauguration? "No... I got bored with the formalities." It''s a lie and I don''t know what I''m saying. I¡¯ve been here since this morning, just don''t ask. Large gatherings make me uncomfortable, especially ones you''ve to put up appearances. "Well it doesn''t matter right now, why does he need me?" "He thought you might have left." "No, he still has my Golem." I''m not leaving without Uno. I don''t know where it is right now, they said they needed it to bring order back to the streets and took it out him. "Yes, that''s why he told me to come find you, Master William." "Is that so? Hope I didn''t make you search too much." "Ch ch ch, this is the first place I looked Master William, so no, you didn''t make me search too much at all." Very proud of yourself aren''t you? Really, childish. "I''m that predictable huh?" She led me to the gates of the castle. In front of it is a large coach, painted white and decorated gold. The sorcerer was talking to the coachman who brought over Uno; I was wondering where you were. Don''t even remember his name. "William, there you are." He looks happy. Shouldn''t you be inside entertaining some guests or being entertained by them, now that you''re the king. "I''ve been talking to your coachman here." You have, about what? "You have, that''s nice." So why did you call me here, hopefully, to say goodbye. "Yes, it''s been wonderful talking to him about his travels here." Oh... hope he didn''t tell you too much. "It''s... a long journey." "Yes, I hear." That''s good. Why''s he smiling? Am I thinking too much into this? He just became the king and brought back slavery, so, of course, he''s smiling. That''s normal. "That''s why I prepared this for you." He gestures to the large coach like a game show host revealing the grand prize. I''m not good at acting excited. "Oh, this is for me. Awesome." "This is the biggest one the king had, and I''m giving it to you." Oh, that is amazing. "Are you sure you want to-" "Yes, yes, I couldn''t have done this without you. Also, this is the only carriage that could fit the Golem inside." You fit Uno inside that? I open the door to find a very awkwardly seated Uno. He''s taking up all the room, but I should be able to squeeze in. "Thank you." "Think nothing of it." No, I don''t want to hug. Okay, that''s enough. Alright, let go. "Well, that''s all the surprises from me. I''ll let you go off then, I know you wanted to go back for a while now." If it''s a normal handshake, then sure. "I''ll see you in a few months." I''ll have to come back, I can''t let you running around living for too long now, can I? "Yeah, see you." So he said goodbye to me at night, during the middle of his party and sent me off. I''m not much of a waver, so I leaned back relaxing beside Uno. At least he didn''t ask me about the inauguration. That would have been an awkward conversation. Where were you? I was hiding out in the library away from all the people and wanted to skip on that kneeling down to you part. I could have met some influential people if I had stuck around. It''s not worth it, I would feel like a whore by the end of it. I would like to keep my pride thank you very much. ??? Knock* Knock* Knock* "Come in." "I found the report, Your Majesty." "So, it was in the king''s chambers¡­ Is that it?" "Yes, your Majesty." "Thank you." "I see... By a Mr. Olly. Hum. Quite accurate... Langose, Zejimal... He goes on to list quite a few. This Olly is good. A very loyal man don''t you think? Clearly seems to have cared about the Red King. Very good, very good. Good work Omewa." "Thank you, your Majesty." "You can go now." "Yes." "Olly Carson, Ha ha ha." ??? "Master Verra... Is everything okay?" "Hmm... Yeah, sure, why?" "It''s just you''ve been staring for a while now." "Ah~ right." I haven''t finished one report today. We succeeded, we killed the player. I¡¯ve been thinking over and over again on how to proceed and it just feels... "Is something wrong with that report, Master Verra?" What? No, nothing''s wrong with the report. "What do you think of the results, Stella? I killed the player like I wanted." "Master Verra?" Say something, I don''t care what, anything. What should we do now, now that he''s dead? You all watched everything, say something. You might not have the memories I gained from my clone but you still watched everything through the viewing windows. Was the question too abstract, why isn''t she saying anything? "What do you think we should do next now that the player is dead?" "Yes, now that our biggest threat, another player, is gone, we can take action to take full control of the Country." Good, good, that''s what I want to hear. "So shall I send the assassins? If you wish, I can take full command of killing the Sorcerer, there is no need to dirty your own hands Master Verra." No, that won''t accomplish anything, except a cheap sense of satisfaction. Good old, cheap satisfaction. Plus, I want to get my hands dirty when I murder him. I want to do it with my own hands. I want to see the look on his face, now that is some priceless satisfaction. "No for now leave him be." I feel like I need to praise her for realizing who I want killed, without having to say it. Did she say it because he became king, or because she knew I hate the man? Then there are the slaves. "What do you think of the beastmans and demi-humans?" What''s with that look? Is the question stupid? Or do you not care and you''re wondering ''what about them?'' I don''t really care either but memories of them begging and kowtowing are disturbing. Don''t they have any pride? There are too many memories like that, they should be more like that woman. Even though she was crying and all beaten up she still refused the Sorcerer, she should have told him to go fuck himself, instead of ''I don''t know.'' "The slaves are bothering you Master Verra?" "It''s that Sorcerer, isn''t it, treating people like that? What a degenerate. That''s what you''re trying to say, right Master Verra?" The maid chimed in with a smile. So Zwanzig cares about the slaves but Stella doesn''t. "Maybe Zwanzig, maybe." Am I really troubled by slavery, and how these people are treated? Sure I know it''s wrong, this era has already passed long ago back on earth. Open slavery, no we don''t approve that. The modern world has other words. "I''m going to go talk to Rosey." "W-wa-why!? Why do you need to see her!?" "Hmm...? No real reason, I want some fresh air, and I though visiting her would be nice. Is there a problem?" "N-no problem." That''s a first, seeing Stella fluster. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ Ah~ the tea sounds great, smells great, and let''s see... tastes great. It burns the tongue a bit but I suppose that''s the price you pay. "Master Verra is everything okay?" "Why?" ...Do you ask? Do I look not fine? "It''s just, you haven''t said nothing since you came in here." Oh, that. Can''t a man enjoy his tea in silence? "Haa~" Her googly silver eyes are too cute. I can see my silhouette. I''m just a tiny silhouette. "Master Verra?" Was I staring at her eyes too long? Or was I staring at myself too long? She''s cute when she blushes. "Sorry." I have to accept it, I think that''s the first step to recovering or is that the last step. Well, either way, I have a problem, not really sure what it is but I do have a problem. "Ma-ma-master you have no reason to apologize. I''m but your creation if you wish to look then... then..." "Rosey, calm down, and I need some more tea. Can you go get it?" "Of course Master Verrra." Her smile usually cheers me up. Is it because I killed a player? Perhaps the others could be thought of as NPCs since they''re of this world, but he was a bona fide genuine earthling. Naa~ that can''t be it, as far as I''m concerned the people of earth are NPCs too. It''s not like I can tell if they think, or even if they do, it means nothing to me. I think, therefore I am, and that''s really all that matters. Everyone else, if they exist or not doesn''t even concern me, whether here or on earth. So that can''t be it. "Thanks." "My pleasure Master Verra." I could sit here and drink tea forever, until everything around me decays. Until I''m submerged in meaningless thoughts of forgotten worlds I once existed in. A dark abyss of nothing, no hopes, and dreams, only the sensation of life with a vague idea that I exist. A pure and lonely life. "Master Verra, I''m not sure of everything that''s going on out there but I heard you enslaved some beastmans." I didn''t enslave the beastmans, it was the Sorcerer. "Perhaps Master Verra, are you having second thoughts about enslaving them." I didn''t enslave them... That''s it! I do hate it, don''t I? The idea of someone willing to bow down to anyone. It''s not even the Sorcerer, he''s an asshole who wants to make people bow down to him but that''s... not really understandable but still kind of understandable. It''s the slaves I hate. I rather they don''t exist, it''s disgusting. I rather murder them all than have them bow down to me. It would bring me no satisfaction to have them all bow down to me, looking up at me with their beady eyes. It''s that slave mentality that I hate. Perhaps I should just kill them all, then I can rest easy. Then why do you want to take over the world? Certainly not because of this. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why¡­? Do I need a reason! Life itself is meaningless, so does it matter how I wish to waste my time in this meaningless world. Perhaps it''s because I have a god complex, delusions of grandeur. Does it fucking matter! I don''t want them to say I made a footprint on nature, no! I want them to think my footprints are nature itself. "Master Verra, is something wrong with the tea? You''ve been staring at it for a while." No, Rosey, nothing is wrong. I''ll let you decide whether I wipe these beastmans off the face of this world, or turn them into proper existences. Ones that would never bow down to anything. Because what I hate are the slaves themselves. "Rosey, what should I do with the slaves? Should I set them free or kill them all? I''ll let you decided." "Ah~ Kill them Master Verra? You''re asking me? I''m not your assistant-" "What does that matter, just answer my question." "Um... I don''t really want to kill anyone, but wait! If that''s what Master Verra wants then that''s what I want too." "No... I think you''ve already answered my question. Then I shall set them free." From themselves. Now the problem is how I go about doing that, and this time I got to pick a good puppet to do my bidding. Someone I can mold to my will. "Haa~ feels like I''m back to square one." "Square one, Master Verra?" It''s nothing Rosey, I just have a lot to do before I can call myself a puppet master, let alone a puppet master of puppet masters. Chapter 18: Orange stream There runs a stream in the old canal by the slums. That runs beside old man Bomo''s den, and passes through the bakery and dips down into the ocean. In the dip the children play, enjoying the little water fall and the slide. When old man Bomo died it stayed abandoned for years till the strange old lady with the raven took over. Years have passed and the children who played in the slums are no longer there, and the stream which was once clear was hued orange. Madmen now drink from the orange stream, the children forbidden by their mothers to ever go near. The stream that was once a part of childhood has become a forbidden fruit only the madmen drink. The old women with the raven is a witch, so the mothers say, she snatches little boys and girls form their homes. And sure enough there are many children that gather around her house - that once belonged to old man Bomo. Every morning, every night, the children seem feverish and sick and they go to her house. The old house smells of burning lilacs, and every Friday, in the depth of night when the moon is hidden behind the clouds an old coach and 2 carriages pass by that old house, bringing barrels of what smells like lilacs. On a rainy day a child arrives at night, too early, feverish and shivering, knocking on those old doors for Madam Crow. "Madam Crow! Madam Crow!" He shouts between the chatter of his teeth. "What is it Boy!" The old women''s voice booms out the door. The door slams the boy to the ground. He begins to plea from the ground, crawling to his feet. "They," he shivers to tell her, "the other boys, they'' kicked me out. They won''t let me in. I can''t go back there. They'' kicked me out." "What did you do boy?" She asks, and so the pleading boy becomes the accused and now he stammers for words to defend himself. The world had twisted, finding himself the accused and the victim he can''t find any words to compel this cold women that eyes him with one glass eye that never blinks. Bored and indifferent she closes the door. The boy stands in the hush of wind and the patter of rain, and begins to sob. Silently he begins and soon he can''t help himself; wails and chokes escape him, and echoes from bones. The door opens again and the boy is caught disheveled, the women stares him down, aims her old revolver to his chest and pulls the trigger. The shot echoes through the rain like thunder. The shriek of a raven fluttering its feathers comes from the house, and she turns her neck, and says "Be quite Susan." So the raven is named Susan. Then she shouts for a "Tom!" Over and over again until she hears the stumbling footsteps of a sleepy Thomas in the dark. A young man of about 20 emerges from the dark, perhaps he looks a bit older with those dark baggy eyes, those deteriorating teeth, and wrinkles of misuse. "Take him, down." Madam Crow says to Tom, pointing at the boy''s collapsed body. "What happen?" Asks Tom clearing his eyes, taking in the sight of the boy soaked in rain sleeping along the cobblestones. Madam Crow runs her long painted nails along Thomas'' confused face, and says in a whispered tone: "Now Tom, Don''t ask questions and do what I tell you." He could see the gun in her hands, and she held his chin and gazed into his eyes. "Sure." He said, avoiding her eyes. He threw a smock over his head, and went out. Picked up the boy gently off the cobblestones and the rain, and looking back he saw that the door had already been closed. Madam Crow had gone back to bed. He took the boy down the ruined path, following the stream to the ocean, and from there to the end of the docks and placed him into the sea. The wind and the rain in its fashion took him. Months passed and to the east, where the city ends, past the last church steeple, where the allies turn narrow and crocked, where the roads are broken and fading; at the entrance to the slums a carriage slows and stops. The door comes ajar, and out steps a boy of 11 or 12, named Emmanuel. A broad shouldered man, bald, and with scars running along his face, leans out to remind him of his duty, his goal, his sister, his justice, his secrets, and his future. A heavy burden for an 11 year old, but he replies "Yes, Sir!" As enthusiastic as ever. "Good, I''m glad you understand." Said Derraacs, feeling the scar on his face, a habit he has developed having stayed in this form for months now. "Very well then." He says to the boy waiting at the door for his last words. "Be safe." It was trite but he couldn''t think of anything else, and so he closed the door and told Frank, the coachman, to go. Emmanuel, the boy, walked down the ruined pathways, broken stairs, and slopping hills down the many terraces that make up the slums. He stops his descent about four terraces above where the land dips into the sea. Using the sound of the stream as a guide he weaves through the tilted houses, and narrow pathways to the old house that smells of lilacs. He hesitated to knock. The ocean shimmered under the moon, the moon seemed far away, ready to join the stars. Even the ocean seemed supernaturally far away, everything seemed far away except the house and the door. He took a deep breath and hit the door. He heard the falling of footsteps approach the door, and it swung open and there stood a man with dark sunken eyes.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "What is it?" Asked Tom, Thomas had taken to opening the door quickly and first, ever since the incident some months ago. The boy mutters, tongue tied, forgetting everything Derraacs had told him: "I was told to come." "By who?" Asked Tom. In a whirlwind of idiocy and pop-art faces his mind produced he realized he had made a mistake, he shuts up and refuses to speak further. Tom, taking on a more delicate air, that didn''t quite suit his figure, or the house, he asked gently in a calming voice: "Who told you come here?" There was silence once again, the crow began to croak at him from within, and he could hear his heart beat throbbing. Choking on the words he said: "I don''t know." The man''s brows were wrinkled, his eyes darted back and forth. "She''ll wake her up." Thomas was nerves, his palms sweaty, and the dull ache along his temple was pinching him. "You better go." He said to the boy, "I know why you''re here." Those words made Emmanuel''s heart jump. "You''re homeless, you have nothing, they probably told you, you could find ''work'' here." With each creaking, croaking, shrill tick of the damned bird his voice grew faster, and they could feel the beating of time. "Find it somewhere else, this is no place for you." Emmanuel couldn''t simply leave, couldn''t simply return. What of his sister, what of his duty... "But- but-" He said, grasping at the only word that would lend its aid, all others stood at the back of his mind refusing to come out. "But," Tom continued, "if you still wish to throw away your life, come back here at high noon, never at night. Come back here and wait, don''t knock, I''ll open the door, I''ll introduce you to her, do as I tell you and you won''t die. Now go away before she wakes up." And he closed the door. He ran away, as fast as he could, he was only glad to get away from that house that smelled of lilacs. He climbed the little hills, the levels of this arena of doom. Somewhere far up, in a crooked street without a name, far from the house of lilacs, but still somewhere in the middle of the slums he grew tired, slowed, and began to think. Where was he running to? Could he go back? Tell Derraacs he couldn''t do it? That he was scared? What of his sister? And his duty and whatever else Derraacs had spoken in that long carriage ride here. Couldn''t he work in the shop with Derraacs, he could be useful in other ways than here¡­ back here in the slums. Derraacs wouldn''t throw him out, certainly not... Would he? The thought tormented him, he stared singularly at a indistinguishable spot on the ruined cobblestones; his sister, his duties, thrown out! So the record played over and over behind his eyes. He watched the sunrise, rise higher and higher, and then there he was when the sun had reached its peak, in front of that same house that smelled so ominously of lilacs. Perhaps scared of being thrown out, not to disappoint Derraacs, for his sister or whatever else Derraacs was talking about on that carriage ride, he was here waiting for the man with the dark sagging eyes to open the door. He waited till the sun had begun to set when Thomas opened the door and waved him in. He had seen many boys and girls his age go by, pass him into the house while he waited. Every time the door opened and his eyes met Tom''s, he gave a grimace, as if to tell him to go away. That this was no place for him. Why the man thought so, Emmanuel couldn''t understand, did he change so much in the last few months, was there something about him that told him he didn''t belong in the slums. It was true during his stay at Derraacs'' he had eaten well, bathed every day, and found some joy in his training. He was a level 5 Summoner now, and that did bring about a few changes that he can''t deny, but what did this man see? The moment he stepped into the house a poignant fume of burning sweet and spicy smells assaulted his nostrils. But it was not lilacs, he could see the orange powder, the chemistry sets and the children working. He was led past them into the back rooms, where there was more of them working. He was led upstairs, in a corner sat a child curled up, her face on her knees, weeping with lacerations on her legs, and he thought of his sister, of Tom''s warning: the slum. And it all came back to him, as if he had forgotten, though he never had. His thoughts swam in undulating waters; him afloat a boat with a hole as big as a grape. Ah, so you noticed, the water seemed to say, glooping up through the hole. He was standing in front of an old women before he noticed. Madam Crow, Thomas introduced, and Emmanuel didn''t have to speak much, thankfully, Thomas did most of the talking for him. "I expect good things from you boy." The old women said at the end Tom''s introductory speech. "Yes!" Said Emmanuel, instinctively. Thomas showed him around, and gave him more advice. Advice Emmanuel listened attentively. I must stay alive, he told himself, and chanted repeatedly to ward of some foreboding future he couldn''t help sense. As the sun set and as the last orange glow of the flame submitted to the night he was led to his new home. A decadent row of houses with open roofs and cracking walls, he was given a bed to call his own in a room with 4 other beds and 4 other beings around his age or maybe a bit older. He was introduced, and they were introduced, and Thomas said goodbye for the night. His roommates weren''t bad people, they were friendly enough and willing to help, but he could tell they would never be friends. He had simply joined the group too late, they had their own jokes, their own games, and their own modes of speech. They had lived similar lives, been together since the beginning and their lives had taken the same turns. He was not so far off, but certain events had made his course a diverging one from theirs. As he laid there and soaked into the long day he''s had, and as the knotted and confusing thoughts faded he pictured of a day far in the future, of a day when he would learn new summons, and wondered how strong he will become. Derraacs had told him not to use his summons unless of an emergency. He had never used any of them, other than in training, this power was still a bit alien to him, as if it wasn''t a part of him... And all these thoughts faded as he fell asleep. Chapter 19: A Rainy Day The guild was in shambles. There weren''t any quests or requests for adventures posted on the boards, and the few papers that clung to the board asked for maids, baby sitters, and farm workers. The adventure guild had seen worse days, so the guild master told Rika. Months had passed and the city was worse than ever under Danial. The traffic stopped, the adventures left, the streets were in chaos, and the knights were disorganized. They weren''t quite sure what was wrong, but the city was coming apart. And the guild Master was happy to see a new face drop by, so was the inn keeper, and the bartender... "So you''re from up north." A barfly tried to strike up a conversation. "Yeah, came in yesterday." Spoke Rika. He scratched his beard, burped, and took another swig from his cheap wine. His breath smelled and his eyes were red and blue. The blue formed a thin rim around his dilated pupils, and he asked: "How is it up there?" "How is what?" Asked Rika, and the man grumbled and turned away. "So what brings you here?" Asked the bartender. The guard asked the same question, and so did the guild master, and Rika answered them all in the same way: "I decided to stop on my way south." "That''s a shame," said the bartender, "if you''d come a bit earlier, I think you would''ve liked it a lot better." He gave a sigh and poured himself a drink. The time passed with nothing much but a belch, a fart, and a snort. And Rika took his leave. The door to his hotel was ajar, his room baring the signs of intruders. The bed sheets pulled, the closet opened, but nothing was taken. Rika hadn''t left anything in his room for the thieves to take. A scream came from across the hall from the inn keeper''s room, the last door in the hall. All her family crammed up in one room the same size as his leaves a strange imprint of the chaos within. He could hear "No"s screamed, and sobbed, the sound of shattered glass, and the babbling of a man. He left his room as it was, open and disturbed, and went to the inn keeper''s. He knocked and all that crying and shouting ceased, like a well orchestrated composer''s halt. He could hear a window frame bang against the wall, probably from his own room, the thieves had left his window open. The door clicked, and opened. A man of 6 foot 2 with a bushy beard and bushy eye brows stood in-front of him. His brown eyes with pin prick pupils eyed him with a frown. He held the door with one hand, looked back into the room and said to his wife: "It''s for you." He stumbled away, and there emerged in his place his wife, the inn keeper. "What is it Mr. Moore." She stammered, her eyes red. There are things you can''t ask. "It looks like someone was in my room." Said Rika. "I tried stupping them." She said, "I em just an old women them soldiers won''t listen to me. I em sorry but I dun''t knuw what you want from me!?" Her voice was shaking. "No, that''s... alright... I only wanted to know. They haven''t taken anything. Well, good night." He said and couldn''t help but try to get a glimpse into the room. It was an unconscious act. "Good night." She said and closed the door. The walls bled with silence till he reached his door and the shouting began again. He was glad! To hear them shout, glad the walls hid everything we were all too ashamed to share. And we should thank this shame! For we aren''t entirely vain yet. Even that is vanity whispered the wind, and Rika closed his doors and windows. Hours passed before the hotel was silent. Rika laid on his bed for hours longer, but sleep wouldn''t lend its aid. He wondered whether to head to the marketplace early. Perhaps it''s a bit too early, he thought when he parted the curtains and looked out into the night. A stream of wind played with the clouds as it played with the leaves on the street. He listened to the wind which clattered the doors and windows and turned streets into rushing rivers. The hour was well into the night and dawn near, he headed to the beach. The moment he stepped into the street he could hear the clacking of hooves, and the voices of knights distorted through the wind. He headed south-east, so that he could pass through the marketplace and look to see if any of the shops were open. He walked through alleyways where the stray dogs slept. A cat perched high on a window sill watched a little dog barking at it. Calmly it watched the dog, unmoving it seemed to yawn at the dog. Rika jumped over a pile of trash the obstructed his path, and headed south. A knight smoking a roll watched him pass by. When he reached the marketplace, he found it empty and the stores closed. He thought he saw lights flicker in a few stores, perhaps preparing before the dawn for the day, he did not approach them and headed further east to the ocean. There he passed a house with 3 soldiers at its door, that had its lamps lit, they watched him pass as they smoked their rolls, and halted their conversation only for a moment when they first felt his presence. So he passed the streets and reached the beach. On its sand he fell, and laid his back and watched the foaming tides. The moon was hidden behind clouds, and in the horizon he saw a storm brewing with sparks of lightning. Too distant for thunder to reach his ears.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. He awoke to see gray clouds, and to the lightest touch of rain drops. For a moment he observed the sand that clung to him, the light drizzle that was starting, the empty beach, and the people in the distance. He arose to his feet, startled at his own resistance to cold and heat, and walking back to the streets as he brushed off the sand that clung to his cloths. He arrived at the marketplace drenched in rain, which had begun pour, with sand still clinging to his back where his hands wouldn''t reach. Gazes turned as he walked past the people. They, under their umbrellas and awnings and canopies. For a spy, for an undercover clone, I am not doing so well, he thought. He seemed a strange animal covered in nature come to look at the human shops, for he looked, he turned here and there, read shop signs and street names. Then he came to a halt in front of the slave shop. A big shabby tent. A puddle at its entrance. He stepped into the puddle and into the shop. Rusted buckets overflowed with leaky rainwater, cages hidden behind cloth made walls, and puddle and mud made spidery webs. On the corner sat a little bearded man murmuring and laughing to himself. He plays with his beard, scratches his eyes, cleans his ear, and licks his teeth. He saw no one else in the shop, and so he went to the little bearded man. The little bearded man slapped his desk, and murmured ''mosquitoes'', and looked up at Rika. He scrutinized him from head to toe, and asked rudely: "What is it boy?" "I''m looking to buy a slave." Replied Rika. He looked him over again, and said: "My slaves are expensive." "I think I have enough." Rika said to the little man. "You think? Come back when you''re sure." Rika ignored him and said: "I want a child, younger the better, but old enough to take care of itself. So, maybe between 6 and 10." The little man squinted and wrinkled up his nose, and looking over him again, he rose from his chair, sighed and said: "Follow me." They walked past the cloth made rooms. The ugly turned beautiful, and the beautiful turned ugly, and they walked past them, and the children were wet. "What do you want!? What do you want!?" The man said. "You want this or maybe that." He said, pointing to this cage and that. Little boys and little girls, and that one looks dead, and that one is dead! "What do you want!? You''re wasting my time, kid. That one I''ll sell you for half the price." That one is dead, thought Rika. He walked between rooms, browsing for himself while the bearded little man followed him reluctantly. "Come on kid, come on." He said, "Pick something. Pick something." Rushed and pressured he said "I''ll take that one." Pointing to a little girl shivering in her cage. Her ears twitched when she heard him, and she looked up. Her dark and dry eyes rolled in their sockets and saw him. Her weariness had dried her tears, and her gaze faded away, she let fate take her, a slave to the flow. "100 Gold." Said the little man sternly. Rika handed him the gold. That surprised him, vexed him, he took it stubbornly and -despite the profit- unhappily. He opened the cage and dragged her out. "I can clean her. Have my assistant wash her, if you''re willing to come back tomorrow." He said, holding her up. "No, that''s fine. I''ll take her now." "Fine." He said. "Bitch!" He yelled slapping the girl, "Were you listening!? You''ll be going now! Listen to him, and be good. I don''t want to see you again." The little beast girl stood meekly taking the slaps that came her way every time he exclaimed. And after a wag of the finger and a reproachingly repugnant stare that seemed to pinch her soul, he said: "Go, go." With a simultaneous smack and push to the head that propelled her towards Rika. She came to him with her head hung low. Her wet hair clinging to her face and shoulders, tattered and physically slim and bonny. "Take her, take her," the man said, almost shooing him away, "she''ll do anything you say." Rika took her hand and led her out the shop, looking about for the ¡®assistant¡¯, though he saw no one but slaves and the little man. Though the little cat girl said nothing, she did not resist or limp, and followed him dutifully. As they walked through the rain, back to the inn, when he looked to her -who he was holding- he saw a puddle, and reflected on this puddle a little girl shivering, crying for her mother through soundless sobs and echo-less words. And when he blinked, and tightened the cold hand he was holding, the hallucination gave way and he saw the little cat girl again stiff and dutifully following his gentle pull. He stopped, and studied the girl again. They were both drenched, and dripping. The people moved around them under their umbrellas and crude raincoats. They stood for some time before she looked up at him, and for the first time they both gazed into each other¡¯s eyes. He brushed aside some of her hair that still clung to her face. "Let''s go get you some cloths." He said. She sneezed; which he took for a reply, a ''yes.'' Chapter 20: Missing He stood by the window in his usual silk robe, chewing on a pleasant thought, overlooking the Knights'' training, and the sloping roof tops that stood near the castle. The clouds were few and light, broken apart and adrift a vast sea of azure. It was a pleasant day with a pleasant breeze and a warm sun to cuddle hardened bones. A day he could lean on the window, forget the caw of the crow and the cracking pavements, and let the world hold him high. And the world holds him high, high above the mud that the rest was covered in, so his pride told him. The door came ajar, and in stepped Ilmey followed by 3 of her maids, all of them had hunched backs and drooping contortions. You always imagined them with bumpy spinal cords sticking out their slender backs. They wore smiles that made you forget how to smile and brought about images of dunces in the garden wondering among the old. She looked around the room disapprovingly, and said to the maids: "All of you may leave." It was a command, and one that they followed with the utmost haste. The door was quickly shut, and there they stood together and alone. They had interrupted him and brought about a bad mood, his pleasant thoughts dissipated with the creek of the door. He could sense her chocking expectations. Of what? He wasn''t so sure. Expectations of him, for herself? Something in her seemed to have changed since the Red Kings death and his coronation. An anxiety for life had arisen from some primal depth, and now she went about hurriedly. A quickness to her step that wasn''t there before. And their private relationship had become mechanical. "It''s been done." She announced, "I put her in her room, she''ll wake up in a few hours." She was speaking of Lameriy Hctiblive, she had finished the ritual to extend her life. "That''s good to hear." Said the sorcerer. He had been worried about Lameriy''s reluctance to cooperate with his plans, and her desires had become less subtle and more demanding. So, with that out of the way, thought Danial, she should have nothing left to complain. Following this line of thought he imagined her soldiers under his command and bringing the order he so desired of his country, back into his hands. "Tell the servants to prepare something, so we may celebrate when she wakes up." "She''s not trustworthy." She said for the 100th time. "You don''t know her." And he replied with the same answer she has heard a 100 times. She sighed and walked out the door, leaving the door slightly and uncaringly open, having left the sorcerer alone to listen to her clicking steps slowly fade down the hall. She''s simply paranoid, she doesn''t know Lameriy like I do, he assured himself, for Ilmey had had a negative disposition towards Lameriy ever since their meeting. An opinion, many had of Lameriy, her personality after all was something that brought along difficulties for the ones around her. He slowly walked to the door and closed it, and having done so he felt intense rage. His frustrations having kept under by the weather and a pleasant morning suddenly erupted into volcanic wrath and throwing his arms and fists at anything that will receive it he slammed at the crystal statue of the rain god, smashing it into a thousand fragmented pieces. Observing his lack of control and temporarily subduing his rage, he groaned at the shattered pieces scattered on the floor. Clutching his skull he thought: when will he return, thinking of William. Then his mind took to the nobles who regarded his crown to be a joke. Something of humor and good cheer that allowed them to do whatever they pleased. Or his own Knights that had forgotten their duties. Gangsters walking around in full-view, swinging their arms in the sunlight, arm in arm with the soldiers. "An epidemic of rats." Is what he called it, "An epidemic of rats." And Zejimal, where had he gone? Where had he gone!? Missing. Is what they had told him. He goes out to find one hoodlum, a rat, a spy, one snake in the hen house and he goes missing! Missing! Vanished into thin air, they told him. ''A pleasant day.'' He was going to say. ''Best we''ve had in weeks.'' She would have replied. The sounds of knights practicing below, of metal clashing and clanks of armor filled his room. He took his seat behind the desk. Taking the first sheet of paper from a stack on his desk, he quickly read over the contents and singed it, putting the paper to the side. He went on doing so until the stack was reduced to nothing. It was not until a maid came to tell him Lameriy had awoken did he remove himself from his duties and his desk. It was around time for dinner when Lameriy awoke. They waited patiently at the table, chatting about current affairs and so on and so on... Thus delaying the dinner for Lameriy further, awaiting her appearance. It took her almost an hour to prepare herself, and appear before the members around the dinner table. When the menu was brought forward she called the cook to have the chicken chunks removed from her chicken soup. "Please." She said, "Please, remove them, I can''t have them. I am feeling awfully dreadful." It was spoken to the maid but said aloud for everyone to hear. And when the chunks were removed she went on: "I''ve been feeling terrible ever since I woke up, I''m not sure I can eat at all." And turning to Ilmey: "Ilmey dear, are you positive everything has gone well, I''ve been feeling dreadful. I haven''t improved at all."This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Danial interrupted before Ilmey could answer and said: "Perhaps, this can all be discussed in private. After the dinner." "O, of course, if that''s what you''d like. But I''m not so sure I can have dinner at all." She complained but proceeded to sip on her soup with suspicion. They ate dinner in silence. The food seemed to lack taste of any kind, except for Lameriy who "had no appetite", but they all ate their portion as if it was their duty. And when dinner ended Danial and Ilmey followed Lameriy to her room. Ilmey closed the door behind them, and Danial asked "what''s the matter?" "Everything went as expected." Ilmey assured her. "The ritual was a success. I don''t know what you were expecting but you shouldn''t feel any different." Danial told her, "It will only delay, it will not prevent aging, nor make you younger. As I have already told you many times before." With a frown, and throwing her arm over her face she fell back on her bed. "O Danial, how could you do this to me?" She said in an exaggerated voice imitating weariness and pain. Ilmey was about to raise her vehement objections when Danial stopped her with a gesture. Laying back, with an arm over her face she continued: "I feel worse than I was." Over dramatic as always, thought Danial. She sighed, showing an exaggerated sense of sadness and melancholy, and drew herself up. Pointing to a cabinet. "Ilmey dear," she said, "I need a drink." She sat hunched and leaning against the headboard. Reluctantly Ilmey opened the cabinet and found 2 bottles of whiskey, a bottle of rum, bottles of red wine, 3 types of liquor, and a bottle of gin and brandy. "Some red wine, dear. Some red wine." Ilmey took out the bottle of red wine and poured her some which she downed and held out the glass for another fill. After having 4 drinks, fifth in hand, sipping. She said: "I don''t think this is what we agreed on Danial." "What we agreed on..." He repeated to himself. "Maybe you''ve had too much to drink." He said, "We can discuss this tomorrow, when you are sober." "No! I have had too little to drink! I drink too little, that''s the problem." She downed the glass she was drinking, and held out for another. Hesitantly Ilmey filled up the glass. "No, I haven''t had enough at all." She said glaring at Danial. "Danial, when did I ask you to treat me? How many years had gone since I asked you for this ritual? How I''ve aged..." She emptied the sixth, and held out for more, and the glass filled halfway when the bottle finished. "Get another one dear," she said, "get the brandy." Danial pulled up a chair. Slouching over it, rubbing his skull, he asked, almost pleading, "Lameriy, I don''t know what you want from me? I have kept up my end of the barga-" She cut him short and declared, "And I have kept mine!" "Now," He said as calmly as his voice would allow, "my studies, my magic, and my years of toil aren''t so cheap that-" "Cheap!" She screamed, and laughed hysterically, monotoned, her countenance twisted in self-mockery. "Yes, now everything I have done for you has been cheap! Has it!?" How instantly her expressions changed, her laughter died, with rage coursing through her veins. "No, Danial, no more. I was young! When I asked you. How many times I had asked you Danial. Every year, for how many years? But it was always a ''no''. You lectured me on mortality like the hypocrite that you are." She flared her nostrils when she spoke the word ''hypocrite'', "I had let it pass. Hadn''t I Danial, I still considered you a friend, a mentor, and forgot all about immortality. Then when that King came along, all of that seemed to matter not, all of a sudden it was just a part of business." Slouched on his chair, a frown across his face, he sat listening, his old wrinkles hiding his boiling blood. She had made it impossible to say anything, and Ilmey poured herself a glass. "No more! No more!" She shouted, and there ended her speech. She was breathing heavily, asking for another glass. Danial took this pause, this chance to say: "Well, hypocrite is a bit much. And you seemed alright with ''business'' only a day ago." "No more!" She shouted once again, and added, "Danial the soldiers will not be yours. But they are coming don''t you worry about that, but when they get here I expect an official request for vassalage of Tengai to Naybole from the King himself." She was drunk, Danial thought, for she was being bold. Too bold! To speak in such manner, and no one to protect her. But he held back, grinding his teeth, did she expect this out of him, did she perhaps think he was too much a coward. Such thoughts were rushing through Danial''s mind when she simply fell back and passed out. Perhaps she had had too much to drink. As soon as they realized what had happened, and how drunk she must be; Ilmey was the first to ask. "Was what she said true?" Was she drunk or telling the truth? But it seemed they would be denying, to claim it was all a drunken speech she would soon forget. Though an ember of such hopes still flickered in the back of their minds, the truth was plain to see. He got himself to the cabinet and made himself a drink. "I told you! I told you! She can''t be trusted." Ilmey was screaming. Her own plans had been thrown astray, and she blamed him. Looking at the women who would end his term, he could think of only one way... "We''ll put her in the dungeon." That stopped Ilmey cold in her panic. The women that would end both their futures was laying there spread apart with glass in hand. "What will we tell the soldiers, what will we tell Karkasa, what will we tell Nolybab?" "Missing. Same as Zejimal." "How? Why? The soldiers won''t listen to us. No, no, this won''t-" "It''ll work. The soldiers will listen to us in her absence. Go get Flubo, and make sure no one notices you." "How long? This won''t-" "Shut up, and get me Flubo." He said in a hushed tone, the veins on his temple pulsing, the glass cracked in his hand. Not saying a word more, she went out and fetched Flubo. Chapter 21 - News (Part 1) Father Martin enjoys red wine. He brews it himself, quite proud of it, if you could sit him down he''ll tell you all about it. It''s no secret he mixes in some holy water in his brew, it gives it that little forbidden spice, so he says. Though no one else can taste this "forbidden spice." He poured ''MightyX'' or Eugene a drink. "What brings you?" He asked, pleasantly happy to have him. ''MightyX'' or Eugene hadn''t visited him since he quit ''Myth'': the adventure group. And father Martin rarely gets any visitors these days. The church dislikes him, though they keep him around. Where else would he go? If the church can''t take care of him, who will? With sighs and general displeasure they allow him to continue his priesthood. They had banned him from public speaking but now and then he goes to the theater to spread his word. Yes, the theater, the actors are his friends, and some nights he might even show up at a pub. In sermons he is kept as a symbol, quietly and dutifully in the corner. "Not too sure. Not too sure..." Said Eugene having took a sip. The grandfather clock by the mantel was stuck on 3:40. "You should fix it. Clean it." He said pointing with the hand he holds his glass. "That old thing, I wouldn''t know anyone who can. Got it from one of your ''friends''. It''s an antique. Should fetch a fine penny when I retire." "From a friend..." Said Eugene giving breath to the word ''friend'' with a sense of uneasiness. Leaning back he finished the glass and scratching his eyebrow; "Yes, that''s why I''m here." He said slowly with an air of confusion in each word. "I suppose I knew you''d come." Said father Martin, "you, or Krank, or Zero. Well, I haven''t heard from Zero in ages, and Krank''s... You''re the only one who still visits." Father Martin poured another glass and opened up the cigar case. Twilight brought with it a cold wind, father Martin closed the window. The candle flickered in the corner, they puffed their cigar. Father Martin told him of a child''s death, recent, a neighbor, only a block away. A bad cold, is how he described it, and God''s judgment. A preliminary topic to introduce the main death. "So, you must be going over to Tengai?" Father Martin assumed. "Yes, I''ll have to go." There was weariness in his voice, ''all just part of the job'', he almost seemed to say. He took it as it was his duty. "I''ll need to get Krank first, and I''d get Zero too if I knew where he was. Then we''ll have to go to Tengai." "You don''t ''have'' to go." "Yes, I do." He crushed the cigar, "I need a favor." "Ask away." "I need a ship. Krank''s using Clocroc as his base." "We have one heading to Corom next Wednesday, and then all the way to Basllin." "Slaves?" "Quite a few of them. It would be good if you could guard the ship." "Yes, that''ll do. Thank you." "No trouble. No trouble. He got up. Straightened his suit. He was a hulking figure, truly a ''MightyX''. It always took Father Martian by awe, the figure of gladiator deities, their strangeity, and their perfection of a kind which may escape the layman''s eyes but not his. His old eyes had seen too many of these gladiator deities, or as they called themselves ''players'', to mistake their unique perfection of a kind to imperfection and mediocrity. He had seen slim and shorter players, not so ''mighty'' but their perfection laid in their battle form, in form and battle their body matched perfectly, designed - in a sense - with divinity. "Leaving so soon." "Yes, I should go." Father Martin sighed, a bit disappointed. "Don''t you want to know about how he died? Did you look into it at all?" "We''ll look into it when I return with Krank." "Well, I already took the trouble of looking into it for you. Sit, sit, now don''t be so eager to leave." Eugene was hesitant. Father Martian babbles sometimes, though no one holds it against him, but he has been the cause of lateness for many. He filled his glass up once more forcing him to take his seat again. "What are you in such a rush for anyway?" He took the glass in hand, and sat up straight so as to keep himself uncomfortable not to be led for too long. "There''s quite a bit of rumor surrounding all of this as you might imagine, so some of it is doubtful."If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Has anything like this happened before?" "What? A deity killing another." "A deity? Well a player killing, yes, something like that." "Before my time, perhaps Zero knows of it. I was taken to a northern island when I was under the guidance of Father Samuel, which to this day bears the mark of their battle. I was but a boy then. He talked of a G- player''s death." He extended the word ''player'' to almost a question, "I don¡¯t remember the details too well. It was before I met a player myself. I am afraid I was a bad student to Father Samuel, may he rest in peace." With a remorseful sigh he continued: "Zero might know of it, or maybe Morel..." "Finding them would be near impossible." "Ha, yes, they all took on adventuring with a kind of seriousness and devotion perhaps better attributed to priests." Father Martian laughed with a good old air. "Yes, yes." He repeated. "But you stopped, you gave that up." "Yes." "I''ve been wondering of that a bit. If you don''t mind me asking... Can I ask why? ''Myth'', the rest of them, though they don''t call themselves that anymore are still running around. But I don¡¯t hear much about you anymore. " "I''m not too sure myself I''m afraid, so I wouldn''t be able to tell you." "Is that so? Will you go to them now, perhaps they could be of help." "No. This isn''t something I want too many involved in, plus I don''t know how to get involved in it myself. Will I need to kill a player as well, I''m not so sure if I am even necessary here, it¡¯s an unspoken rule to leave each other alone as Zero put it." "I see." The room filled with silence of a sober nature, spreading slowly through the air with calm. "I''ll go tell the maid to fetch you a carriage." Eugene was left alone to sip through his thoughts, not so thick or thin, a bit dry. Taken to the dark it remained there. When father Martin returned the candle had flickered out, and Eugene sat still in the dark with an empty glass. He lit a candle, and seeing the mighty man sloughed over burdened by some invisible demon he said: "Now, now, I''m sure all of this will work out. You should come by tomorrow and I''ll tell you all about the Sorcerer, and all about Tengai." He felt he had caused this that he had touched on a topic he shouldn''t have. He wished to be courteous and erase his mistake but the heavied man sat there unspeaking. And it remained so until the maid came to announce the arrival of the carriage. Eugene got up saying a few word of thanks to Father Martin and the maid, and went down to the streets where the coachman was waiting. Eugene didn¡¯t return the next day or the day after, and remained absent until Tuesday. He came carrying a large backpack, and two large sacks on each hand. The backpack stretched beyond him, and when laid on level ground it stood to the same height as ''MightyX''. Seeing this figure Father Martin could do nothing but invite him in. Saying his "Thanks." He dragged his belongings in and took to standing by the window facing the sea. "I was wondering when you''d show up." Father Martian said a bit annoyed. "Yes, I was busy preparing for the trip. I plan to head to Tengai after I meet with Krank." "Well, then I should tell you everything I know now." To dissuade would be useless, he realized. The tone he took was not of the same sluggish man he talked to some days ago. "You must have heard of the Core Sorcerer, but did you hear of the Golem?" He told him of everything he heard from slaves and soldiers. The ascent of the sorcerer, the golem, the coup d''¨¦tat, the fight, the death, the running slaves, the collector, the broken land, the aristocrats, the adventurers'' militia... There seemed to be no beginning or end to his story. A collection of anecdotes all sewn together to form an archaic picture of Tengai. "There is also rumor" he said, bringing his speech to an end, "of Hctiblive family''s involvement." Mulling over it all Eugene took a seat. He said thanks to the maid who brought them tea and snacks. "It wasn''t the sorcerer who fought him." Eugene said aloud. Hearing it, Father Martin confirmed it, and cleared away any doubt with more antidotal evidence of the Golem. Painting a daemonic picture of a monster able to overpower any player. Burning blue and bright with twisted lava coiled around its soul. Eyes as thick as the devil''s. A toothless savage that eats with its flames. A cavernous web of a giant spider to entangle the mightiest and noblest souls to the flames of hell. A touch of this fire and infants cry for the coldness of death. It was the dawning of the night, with this news out of the way they enjoyed good wine and spread a few laughs. Talked on through the night till it was time. "They''ll leave soon." Father Martin said with sunrise a few hours away. "They''ll be the only ones at the wharf at this hour, you should be able to tell with a glance. They know you but tell them I send you anyway, and they''ll give you a ride." "Thank you." "Oh, stop being so polite. I can''t put up with that anymore, I''m too old." That got a laugh out of Eugene. "You should come more often." "When all this is done with we''ll all get together, we''ll have to find Zero as well." "All? I see, it seems you''ve thought of it long and hard." "You could say that. Well old man I''ll be going now." He rose and gathered his bags. One might mistake him for a giant if they stood too close, thought Father Martin as he watched him take his leave. Like a giant boulder rolling down the middle of the street he took his strides down to the docks. A calamity of nature, a gladiator deity. Chapter 22 - Jak (Part 1) She doesn''t sleep too well, thought Rika. She frowns and scowls when she sleeps. And expressionless when awake. "Elizabeth, wake up." He said, and she awoke with a startle. They paused, Rika turned away and said: "Get ready, we''ll leave soon." It''s been 3 days since Elizabeth had ''joined'' him. The path to take was mostly left to Rika''s discretion, for Vera had more or less dreamed than planned. This became the case the longer he spent alone, and circumstances changed. The knights were acting strange, and there had been some stranger movements near the castle the last few days, and Rika sensed it would be best to leave, as quickly as possible before he was roped into some inconvenience. Thus, they packed their bags and headed west. The cold was settling in. A few streets down they were able to get a ride; squeezing in between a few adventurers heading north-west. The owner of the carriage was welcoming, and asked them to join when he saw them walking. The plan for the day was to head west and then south, but there was no particular reason to head south, and so changing his plans on a whim they joined the adventurers. They conversed of the coming Adventurer''s Festival. They were headed to the beastman country, Jak, where the festival was held every 4 years. The adventurers, who held a certain independence from the state wasn''t too concerned about recent political upheavals. And though the beastman country used humans as slaves, it was restricted to criminals, and used by the state or corporations aided by the state not individual beastmen. This and their ego was sufficient to ward of any fear they should''ve felt when crossing the border. They ignored Rika and Elizabeth till the carriage owner asked: "You taking the giul?" Their eyes were then fixed on the girl, and she averted their gazes and stared at the floor, hiding behind her hooded coat. "Ye, they won''t like that." Said one of the adventurers. "You better leave her here." Said another, they didn''t offer too much advice but it was clear that taking her into the beastman nation would forfeit his rights to her. She would be considered free upon entry. But he was never headed to the festival to begin with. "You can drop us outside the city." He told them. "What you gon-t do with the giul. Leave er with a friend?" "Yes, something like that." "Well, aright." Agreed the carriage owner, and they ignored them again and chatted amongst themselves. The mountains lie between Jak and Tengai upon which many villages rest. They were dropped in a small village its inhabitants called Grotto. Rika handed him a silver piece and he thanked him much before heading off. The people avoided them. The men and women were wrapped in shawls, and he could sense them sneakily take glances as they passed them. Walking past the windowless mud houses and nameless streets or alleyways they came to a cliff. Lost, he headed back and approached the first women he saw. "Excuse me," he said, the women looked up and saw him, looked to the girl and saw her, and before he could say anything more she turned and scampered away. So they walked around the village hoping to meet a friendly denizen who might help them. As the noon hour passed, still having found no one, he said to Elizabeth: "We might have to head west on foot." She didn''t say anything back and that only served to demoralize him further. No roads, no ride, forestry and mountain range, ''on foot'' was something he wanted to avoid. He consoled himself that this might serve as a good bonding tool with Elizabeth and in the process train her along the way, after all that was the objective. Disappointed and resigned to his ill-fate they took a small sloping root at the end of the cliff which took them out of the village and into the forest. At the bottom of the cliff, on the side of the mountain was a cave decorated by statues of gods. On each side of the cave stood a giant statue of a male and female god. Within the cave was the slight reflection of a candle light. Quite unthoughtfully he walked to the ancient structure covered in vines and weeds, Elizabeth followed behind him. The candle flickered and he saw a monk meditating, covered in a white shawl hiding his mouth and nose. "Guests." Said the monk and slowly rose, he looked to them and seemed to be smiling. "You must stay here tonight." "Stay here? No..." Said Rika, feeling an aversion towards the cave and its monk. "We''re heading west, and if you could direct us to a path, or lend us a horse... I can of course reward you." "Come," said the monk, and led them into the cave, "This is the temple of Convalesce. Many have come and gone from here, all better and beyond themselves."Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "I see." Said Rika. "Now here are the baths," said the monk leading them to a glowing room, "I feel the girl should take a bath, don''t you?" Curious Rika looked closer at the hot spring, inside was a glowing fish which gave the room its light. Taken back by the strange and fascinating sight he nonchalantly said "yes". So they stayed for the night, and the monk took him to a room and Elizabeth to another. He gave them food, but refused to eat with them as it was religious custom, he said, that he not remove the shawl. While Rika slept the monk went into Elizabeth''s room and awoke her with a slight touch, and she awoke with a jolt. The child was a timid creature judged the monk, and holding his index finger to his lips to silence her he spoke to her in whispers. "Child, I am a friend." He said first, and removed his shawl. His cheeks were sunk, his lips were dry, his nose was think, and his eyes were deeply wrinkled. Elizabeth felt pity and confusion, and the man bared his teeth. He had fangs, a half-breed, Elizabeth understood. He wrapped himself back in his shawl. "I''ve already arranged a ride, quickly now get your things." "No..." she said, feebly resisting the monks pull. "What? What is it?" He looked at her and studied her scrawny figure, her bony hands and fingers, and asked: "You''re a slave aren''t you? Don''t you want to escape? I''m helping you." He felt embarrassed having to be so patronizing to the girl. He began to whisper to himself and confessed he felt strange that Rika had let her roam about so freely, but concluded that it must be because of Elizabeth''s timid nature, and her fear for the man. "Now, come." Insisted the monk. When he saw again her tremulous soul he could do nothing but to use force. He carried the girl, as quietly as he could out of the cave, so as not to awaken Rika. Out there in the forest waited two half-breeds. "Here, take her, before he wakes." Said the monk and handed her to them. The half-breeds saw her scarred ears and felt pity. One of the horse men took her and placed her in front of him on the horse. "What about you old man?" Asked the other, "What will you do when he wakes up?" "I will give him nothing." He replied sternly, "I''m an old man, and what happens to me now doesn''t matter." "Then perhaps I should stay here with you, Leon will be enough to-" "Seon, you help your brother, I don''t need you here!" Said the old man. "There''s no arguing with the old man, Seon. Wish you''d come with us old man..." He said with some regret, and with a light kick took the horse into the forest. "Well, old man." Said Seon, and did the same chasing after his brother. Morning now dawned and Rika awoke. He saw the monk meditating and packed his bags. When he was finished packing, he noticed Elizabeth still hadn''t come out of her room and he went to wake her. When he found her bed empty. He couldn''t find her in the hot springs or anywhere else he searched and he began to doubt and wonder if she had ran away. He didn''t think her capable, especially here in the forest. Interrupting the monk''s meditation he asked him if he had seen her, and revealed to him she was missing. The monk rose and said with pride. "She''s gone, by now she''s already in Jak and you can''t have her." Seeing the old man''s pompous attitude he realized that this was all his doing. Angry and feeling oppressed and thwarted by every pebble on the floor he grabbed the old man by the throat and lifted him, and asked again "Where is she?" "I already told you," he said chocking, "She''s gone, it''s too late." Dropped on the floor he gasped for breath, before he could gain composure Rika ripped off his shawl and dragged him by his hair out of the cave. "Which way!?" He demanded, "Which way did she go!?" "I won''t tell you even if you kill me." Said the monk. "I can do a lot worse than kill you." He said matter-of-factly. "They''re gone, they''re gone..." The monk repeated laying on the ground and catching his breath. "Do what you want with me." The monk was no use, and Rika felt he didn''t have much time if he wanted to stop them before they reached Jak. He activated his skills from the monk class and gaged his surroundings but its power was weak with all the clones roaming about and sucking from the same source. He couldn''t detect anything. His explorer skill proved useful, he studied his surroundings and noticing the hoof tracks and the markings of 2 horse men, he chased after them following the traces they left behind. The old monk watched in bewilderment. What aroused the greatest fear in the monk was that he was headed in the right direction. This root had been used by slaves from long past to escape to Jak, and this forest is a maze meant to throw off any pursuers. The beasts and mountains served just this purpose. ¨‹¨‹¨‹ "Brother," said Seon, when they reached the Crack. It was a point in the path which went through a narrow cave in the mountain hidden by overgrown vines, and weeds, and leaves. "I can sense something behind us." "Probably a tigergoat." "I sense he''s strong. You go on ahead, I''ll stay here and stop him." Leon sighed and tried to reason with his brother. "He didn''t have a horse." Seon stopped his horse and got off. Leon knew he couldn''t control his brother, and when he took a seat on a boulder he could do nothing but say: "I''ll come back with the others after I reach the gates." And Leon disappeared into the cave. Leon was sure it wasn''t the adventurer, and hoped a tighergoat wouldn''t eat his brother. Seon waited, he could hear light footsteps. At times it would vanish and it was so light he wondered if he made a mistake. For about 10 minutes he waited, confusing the wind for beasts, and all the sounds of the forest seemed like voices whispering. Just when he was about to get back on his horse again and enter the cave, thinking of catching up with his brother he heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps. Then he saw Rika in the distance tracing the path they''d taken. Seon got off his boulder and prepared himself. Unhesitatingly Rika stepped into Seon''s range, and Seon smiled. "If you''ve come here for the girl I''ll give you this last chance to turn back." He said with seriousness. Chapter 23 - Jak (Part 2) "How did you get here so fast?" Asked Seon, "I don''t see a horse." "I ran." "Jokes? Coming from someone like you won''t make anyone laugh." Seon drew his sword, "Well, how you got here doesn''t matter." In the back of his mind he worried for the monk but he knew how to control his emotions in battle, the scars on his body had taught him that. Seon went for a quick lunge aimed at Rika''s neck. A one handed move that only took one step forward to hit the opponent. But, what he couldn''t understand was how Rika disappeared and appeared behind him. His confusion even prevented him from feeling any pain along his arm. It wasn''t till he saw his amputation and his severed hand lying on the ground still clutching his sword did he feel pain. Though the pain was delayed, it dug through the flesh till it reached him. The confusion and the oppressive pain filled his lungs with fear. The screaming was probably a reaction to keep himself sane. He was so loud, he couldn''t hear Rika say: "I wasn''t joking." Before he cut off his head. He followed Leon into the cave. Through diverging paths which led to dead ends and cliffs. He followed the hoof marks to a dip in the path which took him into a pool of water with a ceiling of dripping stalactites where his powers vanished into a confusion of signals and static. He tried to use an explorer skill that would allow him to rewind everything within a range and observe as if he was a ghost from the future but again the source wouldn''t allow this use of excessive mana. Doing what he can with what he had he reached a small stream flowing down the mountain, where he lost their trace. Having lost their path he struggled through the forest till he reached a road that led to Jak. He arrived at the gates of Jak at noon. He felt it was all too late. And as he entered the gates Leon was heading out with the gang to help his brother. Rika activated his monk skills and walked through the market place hoping to detect Elizabeth. He did this till evening and with the twilight of the setting sun he entered a popular tavern for adventurers. As he entered there was a fist fight to the left of him, while the men were placing bets, the barkeep was trying to get it outside. A big pot-bellied dog was swing his fists against this quick catman. The catman hit the belly, hit the chin, dodged the wide swings, and kicked the knee. Just a flurry of shots at the dogs face, legs, torso... The dog was getting hurt, but it wouldn''t budge, it would stumble back a bit whenever a blow would hit him with a thud - on the face or chest - but he''d come right back with a wide swing. Rika took the stairs on his right and went upstairs and took a table overlooking the fight. He waved the waiter to his table and asked for beer. "What!?" She shouted over the chanting of the men bellow. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" It went on. "Will you fuckers shut up!" She shouted and asked him what he wanted again. "A beer." He said. "A beer!?" "Yeah." He said nodding his head. She took that down and went to the next table. He watched the fight, it was a good way to take his mind off things. It ended all too abruptly just when he was getting bored of it and thought it would go on like that for hours. The catman had landed another hit on the dog¡¯s face, a hard one that you could hear the thud all the way from where Rika was sitting. And the dog stumbled back like all the other times he was hit, and he raised his fist high for his usual wide swing. The catman saw it all coming and he was going to dodge it, then bam the catman was down, the dog did this strange kick and punch at the same time. It was a stupid looking move you''d see some fat kid in the playground do but from this big dog it was like a truck had hit the catman. The catman did a weird cough and stumbled back like he was running on a spinning log till he hit the bar and crumbed on the floor. He was trying to get up but it was all too late, the dog came rushing in and gave another kick. He wouldn''t stop kicking the catman and the barkeep and barflies had to stop him. The bar got quite after that, and the waitress brought him his drink. "Much nicer, isn''t it?" She asked and went away. He sat there drinking when he heard this half conversation from the table behind him.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Can''t believe he''s dead." "When I find him..." "How''re you going to find him?" A cynic and a pessimist. "The monk knows how he looks, I''ll drag him here." "He won''t leave his cave." "He''ll leave it, I''ll make him leave it." There was a pause, and ''the monk'' and ''cave'' rang a bell with Rika and he perked up his ears. "How''s Leon doing?" "He took the body to the priests to have it cleansed before the cremation." "What happened to the girl?" "We took her to the orphanage." "Alright, I''ll go get her, she should know how he looks." "You''re not going to drag the girl out of the orphanage, sit the fuck back down." "If I have to that''s what I''m doing." "The girl''s been through enough." "I haven''t seen her." "I''ll have a look myself." "Even with the girl... what next? You going to wander the land looking for a human?" "What''s Leon doing!? He should... he should!" "Will you shut up, he''s doing what he can." "Can!?" "Whoever can do that to Seon, must be strong." Rika finished his beer and paid the waiter. Time had passed quickly. The dark blue night sky greeted him when he stepped out. An orphanage would be hard to find at this time of the hour he thought, and found an inn. "Here for the festival?" Asked a smiling goat. "Yeah." He replied unenthusiastically. Silver was exchanged and he was led up 3 stories to a little room at the edge of the building. "Dinner''s already passed but I can have Mikey bring it up for you if you need it." "No, that''s fine." "Alright, breakfast''s at 8 and lunch at 12, Mikey will knock on your door if you don''t come down." "Okay." "Enjoy your stay." "Thanks." He said and the landlord gave a smile and walked off. He opened a window, a queer thing to do on a cold night but he felt nothing having that passive skill of his always active. He could hear the people bellow but all he saw were roof tops. A few chimneys were puffing out smoke. He threw his cloths on a chair and got in his bed and counted his money. The bed felt like a plank. There was a thin layer of straw covering the bed sheet. He must have laid there for an hour or so when he saw the fireworks. Around 9 or 10 the fire works started going off in the arena. From the inn he couldn''t quite well see the arena, the mosque blocking his line of sight. But he could see the pink, orange, red, blue and etc., balls of light rise and explode into little pieces. Not so sleepy and feeling bored he put on his cloths and went down stairs. The landlord saw him and asked: "So, you want your supper after all." "No, no, I''m fine." He replied and stepped out. He saw a few adventures'' parties, going the same way. The seats were already filled up, the counter girl told him, but they could pay to sand at the back. Some of the adventurers didn''t like that, but he paid and went in. A show of dancing and music was going on in the middle of the arena. The main events hadn''t began and he walked around to find a ''good'' spot. He went on searching weary and tired, the music stopped the dancing stopped but not him, he went on till the first contestants came out on to the stage and the announcer riled everyone up. He still went on searching pushing through, till the first deadly blow was struck in the arena and the crescendo of the crowd made him stop, and take notice of the battle. A man struck on the thigh and knee and was hobbling away from his contender. The announcer stopped the battle and announced the winner. The injured man was taken away and the beastman walked back into the waiting area. That had put the crowd in a good mood. A party was announced, this time the adventure parties were both composed of beastmen. It was 5 against 5, team battle; vanguard, magician, ranger, sharpshooter, and healer. It was mostly the vanguards fighting with the others supporting, and the sharpshooters sat it out. The fight was well orchestrated like a dance, each paring and dodging with precision. "Their speeds are unbelievable." Said an adventurer to her friend. "I don''t think anyone will be able to join Tropic." Said her friend. "There''s no loss in trying." Said another team mate. The fight went on like this till the time ran out, with the magicians having casted a spell or two each one averted by the other team. All was quite equal and they tied. "Hmm... I thought Tropic would win." "Claw''s an S class team too..." Another fight was announced, this time one of the contestants was a soldier. The soldier won almost instantly against an A class adventurer. Rika activated his eyes to check his level and found him to be level 70, beating the highest ''he'' had seen in this world before: 53. The soldier said a few words about joining the army and said thanks to the vizier Al Muin. The crowd cheered. "The king couldn''t be here today, but we have Al Muin the Great with us today!" Shouted the announcer and the crowd cheered with pride for their country. The humans stood back and watched as Al Muin stood up from his balcony seat and waved his hand. Al Muin looked much like Anubis, with a black body, a canine''s head and pointy ears. Rika saw his level was 371. He realized right away this was a player. As the Anubis was waving his hand a little Anubis came running up to him and Al Muin lifted it up and the little one began to wave its hands as well. The level of the little one was quite low and matched those of the kids around its age. It took Rika a while to realize that the little one was his daughter. "He''s been here a long time." He mumbled to himself. They had suspected someone might be a player in Jak. He waited till the cheering died and left the arena. Chapter 24 - News (Part 2) The galley left the shores before the sun rose, in the twilight. The ship was manned by slaves, all elves, only the captain and vice-captain were humans, and of course their guest Eugene. "How''ll you get back?" Asked Eugene. "Oh, we''ll get a ride with the trading ships." Said the vice-captain. "So you''ll leave ship there." "Yep, the princess is paying for it." "Oh, Clementine..." He said with familiarity. "Yep." They watched the sunrise in silence. "Beautiful isn''t it?" Asked the vice-captain. "Yes, very." "You don''t get a sight like this being in the land all the time." Watching it rise from the sea was indeed something else, admitted Eugene. "Come on lets go in. Calkut was a big shot cook, worked for fancy restaurant, we got him cooking our breakfast." It would be a week before they reached Corom and till then he hadn''t much too do and he helped out with the rowing. The slaves cheered him on, he became kind of a favorite with them. It became a routine that he worked with the slaves and ate with the captains. "Are they all from Tengai?" He asked one supper. "No, I thought most were from Nolybab." Said the vice-captain. "I talked to some of them from Tengai." "What did they say?" Asked the captain. "Nothing much, they thanked me, the princess, and you guys." "Hmm..." They said, and ate the food. "How did they get all the way to Iacta?" He asked as a passing thought. "Maybe the Congon Heroes or some other slave traders brought them. The problem is the king doesn''t care." "Who Drasil?" "No, their king Kai or something or another." "Even the royals make deals with the traders." Added the captain. The nights passed and they arrived at Corom on a clear afternoon. The port island, the land of seagulls. They still had miles to go and he said good bye and waved them off. He waited there for a week before a boat came from Clocroc to gather supplies, one of Krank''s men. He lived in a dingy little in for the week where the landlady kept telling him he ''better not bring any whores into my house.'' ''I can smell booze on your breath.'' ''I don''t want you drinking when you''re living with in my house.'' ''No drinking! No smoking! I don''t like the smell.'' The women was insane and he didn''t know why he stayed there for the whole week. And he didn''t think much about it when he first went there, all he wanted was a night¡¯s sleep. The breakfast was fine until he didn''t finish the peas, and there it began - nice enough in a way, all she said was ''a big man like you needs to eat. You can''t be wasting food.'' And he ate it and then she went insane. Holy Christ, the woman had ideas about men. It got bad enough that even though he had paid for the week he slept on a bench the last two nights. ''Where were you, out all night?'' She asked, when he went to get his things.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. And he would have missed the boat''s arrival too with all this swirling around in his head if it wasn''t for the bartender. The bartender told him of the ship''s arrival. He was a stout and stupid fellow, all he could do was laugh and say ''that''s women for ya.'' When he heard Eugene was looking for Krank he advised: "You look like you can handle your own but all them are nuts, just a warning." "Thanks." He said, "I''ll keep that in mind." MightyX walked around the docks till he saw the pirate flag. It was a demon''s red skull. The man giving the commands was an old man with a gray beard, his men were caring goods into the ship. He was chewing on tobacco and kept trying to spit on some seagulls head that had gathered near him. Spit, spit, spit, all over the boards, worse than seagull shit. There was some of it crusted on his beard. When he saw MightyX the old man puffed out his chest to match, but it was no contest, MightyX stood a foot over him. The old man seemed ready to fight, and his men watched. "You from Krank''s crew?" "That I am. What is it to you?" "I need to see him." "So you want to see my captain, hey? But that ain''t so easy. Not anyone can become a member of the Demon fleet." You could hear the pride in his voice. "Well, I need to see him, and I''m coming with you." The old man unsheathe and swung his sword in an instant. MightyX caught the blade in his hand. "Well, alright." Said the old man, "Only the captain will be able to deal with you." He withdrew his sword and sheathed his sword. "What the hell you fuckers looking at!? Get back to work!" He shouted at his men. The old man didn''t try anything after that, but it was the fearlessness of the old man that was commendable. Eugene could hear the hammer and nails as they got closer to Clocroc, and see the great construction project going on, on the island. "What''s your captain doing?" Asked Eugene when he saw it. "Ask the captain yourself." Said the old man with a grin. There were men there to meet them and as soon as they docked the old man said to one of the men waiting below. "This guy wants to see captain." They looked Eugene over and one of them said: "Alright, follow me." And he followed him through the forest to a little hut. Near the hut you could only see women, all of them part of the harem. While MightyX was taking in the view, the one who led him said something to one of the women. She ran into the hut, and after a few minutes out came a demon with red wings, red eyes, red horns, a red tail, and etc. "Oh, mighty," he said surprised, "what the hell are you doing here?" "Nice to see you too." "Yeah, yeah, same... come in. We''ll have a party tonight... in your honor." "In my honor..." "Yeah man we should celebrate." "Tinkula''s dead." "Tinkula... who''s that?" "The player in Tengai." "PvP! Fuck. You serious?" "Can we talk in private?" "Oh, yeah sure." He looked around at the scantily clad women. "Give us some privacy." So the discussion commenced and Krank agreed to go with him to Tengai. "What about Zero and the others?" He asked having decided to depart the day after. "Can''t get in touch." "What about heading to Jak and asking Al for help." "Never met him." "This is player business, he''s bound to be worried too." "Alright if you think he''ll help." "It''s been a while since I''ve been to Jak." "I haven''t been there before." "Then this is a good time to go." There was a party in the evening that went on till dawn. There was a great slumber and on the 2nd night they set sail. "By the way what''s this all about?" Eugene asked pointing to a man carrying lumber. "You noticed." He said with a smile. "Yes, yes I noticed." Eugene said thinking: how do you not notice. "We''re going to build a pirate town where all the pirates from around the world can come. Casions, contests, it''ll be the place to be if you''re a pirate." "Hmm..." It began to rain on the 4th day of their journey. The ship began to shake, the sea tremored and everyone stood silent for moments and watched the giant waves come ready to sink the ship. The ship was in a panic, the old man was shouting orders here and there, getting them all in line. "I never go anywhere without Kolbain." Said Krank in the middle of it all. The old man was a born general, you can''t make them. It was luck, all luck that they weren''t down under. But the way the old man did it makes you think it was all him. Then it came, and all his shouting and commanding wouldn''t do a dime. It emerged out of the storm with a wave. A titanic, its mast broken and thrown across the ocean they were headed for collision. "Strong Force." Shouted MightX which jolted his muscles and strengthened them. [Demon Wings] thought Krank which extended his wings. One punched which send shock waves and the other summoned the wind which slowed the titian and moved it along with them. The storm was trying to bash their ships together. But they bared the storm out and it cleared and rays of light were came through the clouds. In the storm they had thought it was some ghost ship but they could now see that it was not old enough. And a man on board the ship waving to them. They waved back, and the man went on waving. The old man joined them in waving to the man and he went on waving. "Hello!" Shouted Krank, and beat his wings to rise up to him. It was a dead beastman dangling on a rope off a broken pole. Like a puppet he was tied around the arm, the rope circled around the neck and torso, and he was leaning over the ship''s rail. "The man''s dead!" He shouted down, and the old man ceased his waving. They left the titan roam along with the current and headed north.