Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Rex's Melancholy
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After executing the doctor and his aides, we began scavenging for anything useful in this research city that we now couldn't even bear to look at.
Because we planned to leave the city soon.
During that process, there was a suggestion to occupy this ownerless place...
"I agree."
It was scrapped due to opposition from me and Rex.
And rightly so, because Rex and my goal was to find A, our solitary confinement neighbor who had vanished somewhere else.
We couldn't settle in a place like this.
That wasn't the only reason.
What would we gain from occupying this place?
In the end, this city was just a tiny part of a territory the size of South Korea.
And if the lord found out someone he hadn't appointed was ruling the city, he'd send an army.
Then we'd have to fight to defend it...
'Is it really worth it?'
Rex had definitely said that.
'Is there any reason to?'
Combat power wasn't an issue.
Objectively speaking, I could block the lord's army single-handedly.
The problem was that it wasn't worth it at all.
This city existed solely for research.
It had no trade advantages, no mines or resources, no amenities, supply issues with drinking water...
The disadvantages were too numerous to count on one hand.
Above all, emotionally, there was zero desire to defend it.
All things considered, there was no reason to settle here.
And finally, one more reason the others didn't know.
'Rex doesn't seem ready to lead us yet.'
It was also because Rex hadn't made up his mind.
Like a petty bourgeois craving responsibility-free pleasure, I could almost hear the gears turning in Rex's head from here.
He was probably planning to command us for a bit and then abandon us midway.
Proof of that was choosing the most irresponsible temporary contract out of all those options when contracting with us.
'Not a chance.'
Of course, I had no intention of letting him.
'Someone who's going to be emperor needs a bigger vision.'
He might not want it, but what could be done?
Bearing unwanted responsibility and power was the fate of the protagonist in a possession story.
'It's a seat you didn't choose. Tough it out with grit.'
I organized my thoughts and went looking for Rex, who was celebrating the victory with the soldiers.
- "Hooray! Long live Lord Rex!!"
- "Thank you! I'll never forget this grace!"
Amid the soldiers' cheers, Rex's communication disorder was worsening, his whole body twisting in agony.
If this were a gag comic, he'd have melted into something like a slime from the pressure.
But he was also the type who got shy but secretly loved the attention.
Even as he writhed in embarrassment, his need for recognition was satisfied, leaving him grinning like an idiot.
'Sigh...'
He didn't want responsibility but craved recognition,
wanted abundance but hated negative attention,
longed to escape loneliness but feared meeting people.
A textbook materialistic loner.
I approached my lord, who was 'not yet' complete.
"Lord Rex. It's about time we move out."
"Ah."
Rex spotted me and hurriedly started typing.
"Go ahead."
Of course not.
These people had nowhere to go without me.
Just like Rex had been sold to the doctor and smacked on the back of the head, they had similar pasts.
I opened my mouth to tell him that.
But before I could finish, Rex's message continued.
...What the hell, Rex?
What are you, some deadbeat dad? Hire and then abandon?
My face stiffened so much I could feel it.
Under my gaze demanding an explanation, Zi... no, Rex explained the reason.
At that, I nodded.
"Yeah, that's certainly true."
A statement begging for a smack.
Should snap his spine in half. What a schemer.
Of course, I didn't act on it.
I had perfectly mastered how to handle this still-lacking guy, so I could control my passionate emotions.
'Alright. Let's do this.'
I devised a plan in my head and opened my mouth.
Rex looked up at Duke, the knight far larger than himself.
Then he scanned the test subject soldiers following him once more.
And soon, he steeled his resolve and nodded.
'It's impossible.'
Rex lacked the confidence to form a liege-vassal contract with them.
He'd made temporary contracts in the lab out of urgency, but those were just light mercenary hires.
A full liege-vassal contract was far heavier, with much greater responsibility.
And Rex didn't have the confidence to handle this many people.
'Especially Duke.'
Among them, he especially lacked confidence for a formal contract with Duke.
Of course, as a gamer, Rex coveted the hero named Duke.
But precisely because he was a gamer, he coldly assessed that he couldn't recruit Duke.
In games, if a subordinate's level or stats were too high compared to the liege's, command execution dropped and rebellion chance rose.
Duke had Loyalty (Inactive) among his traits, which reduced rebellion risk but didn't eliminate it.
And in Duke's case...
'Command disobedience probability 30%, rebellion rate 80%.'
It wasn't shown in the system yet since no contract was made, but based on tens of thousands of hours of gaming experience, he estimated it around there.
Even without rebellion, Duke's charisma was so high that Rex might end up a figurehead.
Of course, now that it was reality, he knew it could change based on personality, beliefs, interests, etc.
But living thanks to the game system, ignoring it felt scary.
Above all...
'Madness S+...'
It looked like a bomb that could go off anytime.
Rex's current diagnosis of Duke's state was Nobility, Passion, and Indomitable suppressing the madness.
Thanks to meeting him in time, he'd somehow prevented the demon king route, but keeping a demon king nearby was another story.
'Like dynamite under the bed.'
He didn't have the confidence to monitor and prevent Duke from turning like other protagonists would.
Putting aside his regrets, Rex prepared to part ways.
At that moment, Duke interrupted Rex's words.
"I've been thinking during our journey here."
"I've swung my sword for my ideals my whole life."
Rex panicked at Duke's sudden seriousness.
But his tone was so earnest that he couldn't just ignore it.
(Definitely not because he was scared of interrupting due to his communication disorder.)
Duke took Rex's silence as permission and continued.
"My ideal has always been one thing. From birth until now. Unchanging for hundreds of years."
It was sincere.
At least Duke had lived for his ideal.
Even if that ideal didn't match what the listeners thought of as an 'ideal.'
Anyway, he was sincere.
As a result...
- "He's sincere."
- "No lies."
Those among the test subjects with sincerity-detection abilities affirmed Duke's words.
Amid the soldiers' support, Duke began his speech on his noble(?) goal.
"I believed swinging my sword would one day reach my ideal. But my blade judges evil, yet doesn't bring happiness to people."
"Of course, I pride myself on saving countless people. But that doesn't mean I made them happy."
Duke drew his iron sword from his waist and gazed at it sadly.
"I believe happiness comes not from salvation, but from daily life. When I cut people down with this sword, the innkeeper serves happy meals with a kitchen knife. I want to ask: how much more happiness has my sword created than that kitchen knife?"
"I can save by slaying someone, but I don't know how to rule over them and make them happy."
Sincere.
He was great at fighting but utterly incompetent at internal affairs.
If entrusted with governance, he was confident he'd rollercoaster the local economy.
"Lord Rex. Please grant me the honor of becoming the sword that guards your journey."
Duke knelt.
"I want to witness the future you create by your side. Become the master of my sword."
Duke's speech moved even the onlookers.
The test subject soldiers, who had been quietly observing, knelt before Rex following Duke.
- "““Please become our liege!/Lord!!””"
Witnessing this grand sight, Rex...
'Why are these people like this???'
Couldn't comprehend it.
Unlike this world's values where finding someone to serve was glory and life's purpose, Rex's values were still stuck in 22nd-century South Korea.
'Why do they keep wanting to serve under someone???'
In 22nd-century South Korea, where everything 'had to be equal,' sincerely wishing to serve under someone was unimaginable.
Unless for money or practical reasons, no one would truly serve another.
Thus, Rex found their actions utterly bewildering.
On the other hand, he was pleased.
'Hehe... I'm recognized.'
Being a man, he knew the joy of recognition.
And...
'Mr. Duke hasn't fully blackened yet.'
He felt relieved once more that his friend D hadn't fallen that far.
But the joy was fleeting. Responsibility made him face reality.
In the end, after agonizing, Rex shook his head.
'Too much responsibility for me.'
Rex still hadn't forgotten his goal.
He just wanted to be a decent advisor in a decent city, living a leisurely harem life.
Taking these people would drag him into all sorts of trouble, his instincts told him.
They didn't fit the peaceful life he wanted.
'Hmm. Definitely not scared of the Madness S+ that could explode anytime.'
Self-justifying repeatedly, Rex politely refused.
It wasn't severance anyway.
Part ways now, grow moderately, and when his city grew, stay acquaintances. That was enough.
Hearing that, Duke nodded calmly.
"I see."
Shing
Duke suddenly drew his sword.
He pointed the blade at his own stomach and...
"What meaning is there in a sword without its master?!!!"
Attempted seppuku.
And madness is contagious.
““Ah! Our liege says he has no need for us!!””
The soldiers drew their weapons en masse.
Of course, half sincere, half acting.
Strictly speaking, it was like the 'Please kill us!' pleas in historical dramas.
A kind of show originating from the empire 100 years ago.
Just so old that few practiced it.
Thus, to Rex, who was only 30, it came across differently.
'These crazy loyalist bastards!!!'
Rex freaked out and stopped them.
"Aaaah! Fine! I'll contract! Put the weapons down!"
In his panic, he even spoke aloud.
Rex was certain lifelong trauma would hit if this many people disemboweled themselves before his eyes.
Only then did Duke and the soldiers lower their weapons and bow their heads.
““We pledge our loyalty, my liege!””
Rex had accidentally become the liege of countless people.
Amid the crashing fatigue, he thought.
'Damn Madness S+...'
He'd been mistaken thinking it was simply suppressed by the Nobility, Passion, Indomitable trio.
Never imagined those three could blend with Madness.
'Damn world. Never once goes how I want.'
Cursing the world, Rex surrendered before the contagious madness.