The Lord Council (1)
The cavern must have been buried deep underground, because the stairs climbing toward the surface seemed to go on forever.
Once we reached the ground, Daypon excused himself and departed somewhere first. I was left in Kaylen's care, and followed where she led.
"Should you wish for a meal, a bath, or anything else at all, simply say the word. I shall have your preference prepared at once."
I told her I'd start with a bath.
I'd been a prisoner until moments ago, so it was only natural — I was filthy beyond description. Kaylen had clearly anticipated as much. She set the servants to work at once, and everything was ready in short order.
A swarm of maids clustered around, offering to attend me in the bath, but I sent every last one of them away. Until less than an hour ago I had been nothing more than an utterly ordinary modern man. Having someone else wash my body was just mortifying.
"While you bathe, I shall have a meal prepared separately—"
"That won't be necessary."
I just wanted to get clean. Food was the last thing on my mind.
After somehow finishing my bath, I changed into clean clothes and was shown to a room — an extraordinarily spacious, lavish one. I walked up to the mirror and stood before it.
On the other side, a thoroughly unfamiliar man stared straight back at me. Jet-black hair. Skin so pale it was almost white. A pair of vividly golden eyes, and strikingly well-defined features.
Damn. This guy is ridiculously handsome.
Setting my current predicament entirely aside, that was my honest impression of the body I'd possessed. I'd already confirmed it while bathing, but this was a face I didn't think I'd ever get used to. More than that, I had no idea whose body I'd even ended up in. It wasn't my character's. Mine had been blond, with blue eyes.
I moved, and this time stood by the window. The room was on a high floor, so the view of the castle grounds spread out quite clearly: the massive walls encircling the outer perimeter, the tall and majestic buildings, the soldiers and knights standing guard everywhere with a grim, imposing air.
The Calderic Overlord Council.
One of the Four Continental Powers, with Grand Lord Rashatein and the Nine Lords beneath her standing at its apex. Unlike Seintea, which was populated almost exclusively by humans, this was a land where a multitude of races mixed together besides humankind — and as that characteristic suggested, it was the freest and most open of the Four Powers.
And right now, I was in Calderic's Grand Lord Castle. It stood at the very center of Warborn, the capital of Dragor — the Grand Lord's personal domain. Dragor was a region I'd visited so often while playing RASA that it was practically a second home.
So beyond those walls, the city of Warborn stretches out.
A place I'd only ever seen as game graphics on the other side of a computer screen, now standing before me in vivid, living reality. If my circumstances weren't what they were, I might have been able to simply enjoy the overwhelming vista before my eyes.
"Hahh..."
I rested my chin on the windowsill and let out a long, deep sigh. How the hell did it come to this? Why, of all things, did I now have to stand face to face with the Grand Lord of Calderic? A single misunderstanding, and the whole situation had blown up far beyond anything reasonable. At this point, I felt I could understand — species be damned — the heart of a cow being led to slaughter.
Kaylen's words from earlier suddenly came back to me.
Come to think of it, she said the Lord Council was about to begin...
I'd been one of those hardcore veterans you could count on one hand even among RASA players. Naturally, I knew a considerable amount about Calderic as well — not just its major NPCs, but even the inner workings and systems of its ruling class, in fairly thorough detail. Most players didn't bother learning the minute bits of lore that had nothing to do with the main story. When the game was RASA, though, things were a little different. It was a game packed with hidden pieces, and sometimes you could find the clues to them within the lore itself. That was why not just me, but most RASA veterans, typically had even the most trivial details memorized cold.
The Lord Council.
Just as the name suggested, it was a regular grand assembly attended by the Grand Lord and all Nine Lords. And the venue, of course, was here — the Grand Lord Castle, where the Grand Lord herself resided.
Then that means most of the other Lords are gathered here right now, doesn't it?
The moment that thought landed, a nameless unease welled up inside me. Somehow... the timing felt extremely bad. Because I knew, in a general sense, that Grand Lord Rashatein was a rather unpredictable personality.
I'd been lost in my worries for some time when a knock sounded at the door.
"Have you been resting comfortably, Lord Ron?"
The one who opened the door and entered wasn't Kaylen, but Daypon. I knew the time had come. And with the words that followed, I knew my ominous premonition had been dead on.
"The council at which the Grand Lord and the other Lords shall gather is about to begin. The Grand Lord wishes for you to attend as well, Lord Ron."
"..."
Ah.
My damn foresight just leveled up.
After a brief exchange, I immediately set off following Daypon. In the wide, silent corridor, only the evenly spaced sound of two sets of footsteps echoed softly. Our destination, as I'd already been told, was the Lord Council chamber — a place that, depending on how things went from here, might well become a public execution ground rather than a hall of assembly.
From the frying pan into the fire.
No, seriously — why the hell would they bring a complete outsider like me to a summit of the Lords? Right now, all I wanted was to smack the back of Daypon's head as he walked ahead of me. After all, this guy was the root cause of this entire mess. It was true I'd escaped the transport ship thanks to him — but he was also the one who'd attacked the transport ship in the first place. If he hadn't, the ship would be sailing across the sea right now without ever having sunk. Even if the destination had been a prison camp, compared to having to face the rulers of Calderic from this point on, wouldn't that have been the better option?
Pointless hypotheticals.
I walked on with a detached heart. Having come this far, there was no running away. I'd know soon enough which path would have been better — whether I could survive in front of Calderic's apex Lords without having my pathetic true nature exposed.
If things really go as badly as they can and I get found out...
Even my one and only Instant Kill skill was completely useless as a means of protecting myself. It had worked on the Fist Saint, so the effect itself was certain — but it had the fatal condition of only activating on physical contact. Well, even so, it wasn't as if I had no other options at all. If I played my mouth right, my vast game knowledge could even serve as a bargaining chip with the Grand Lord herself. Of course, the best outcome was still getting through this crisis without being found out at all.
The further we walked, the darker it seemed to get, until at some point the windows along the corridor had vanished entirely. In their place, luminescent stones set into the ceiling lit the darkness. Before long we entered a passage laid with a dark crimson carpet, and at its entrance several knights stood in formation with a solemn air.
Shnk.
The knights raised their swords in unison, offering a salute.
"We have arrived."
Daypon said this as he walked past them, and I followed, feigning composure. After walking the long corridor for some time, the enormous door at its end gradually came into view — and so did someone standing a short distance ahead, who seemed to have just arrived, same as us.
A woman with hair so fiercely red it called to mind a roaring flame. Beast ears jutting from either side of her head. A long diagonal scar running from her forehead down to her jaw. And a massive greatsword strapped to her back.
"Yo, Chief of Staff."
She'd been looking our way, and now she called out in a casual tone. In contrast, Daypon bowed his head and greeted her with utmost formality.
"You have arrived, Fifth Lord."
I knew who she was the instant I saw her, without needing to hear a name.
That monstrous level, even higher than the Fist Saint's, combined with that appearance. Only one person came to mind.
The Fifth Lord, Mad Wolf — Ignel.
We hadn't even entered the council chamber yet and she was already coming in this hot? I looked at her with a somewhat strange feeling. Even just standing there, her presence seemed to crush the entire space around her.
The Fist Saint had been a stranger to me, and Chief of Staff Daypon was a character I'd barely ever interacted with even in the game — but Mad Wolf was different. A named boss among named bosses, one I'd once challenged dozens of times over, struggling every step of the way. Endlessly familiar. Once again, the fact that this was the world inside the game struck me with vivid, renewed clarity.
"You actually making it right on time? That's a first. So what's that supposed to be?"
Mad Wolf jerked her chin toward me as she asked.
"Someone whose attendance the Grand Lord has personally authorized."
"...The hell?"
At that, her face twisted into an expression of sheer disbelief.
"The Grand Lord's weird-ass stunts aren't exactly new, so whatever. So who is he?"
"Someone we happened to bring in from outside this time—"
"Ahh, right, you said you went to Seintea. Let's see just how big a deal this guy you dragged back is... Hmm."
Her gaze turned toward me once more. Those vertically slit predator's pupils swept over my entire body once, then locked onto my eyes with a chilling intensity.
"Doesn't look like much."
A sonic boom that shredded the air to pieces. In that instant I had no idea what had happened — a gust of wind sent my hair fluttering, and a blade had stopped right in front of my throat.
"..."
I simply stood there, frozen like a statue, staring at the woman gripping the sword.
...What the hell did she just do? Did she swing her sword? When?
I hadn't even registered her drawing that massive blade from her back. An unthinkable speed, as if every step in between had simply been skipped.
"Heh. Or maybe he is."
Mad Wolf grinned and withdrew her sword.
"No killing intent whatsoever, and you still don't even flinch. Tougher than you look."
...I didn't choose not to react. I couldn't. I just took a round trip across the River Styx and she's talking about killing intent? If it weren't for Emperor's Soul, my legs would have given out and I'd have collapsed on the spot.
"Fifth Lord."
Thankfully, Daypon stepped in with a stiff voice, as if to restrain her.
"Don't get all uptight over a little hello."
Chuckling, Mad Wolf sheathed her sword and turned around.
"You. Let's throw down sometime when we get the chance. I can't feel a scrap of mana off you no matter how I look, so I'm curious what kind of power you actually use."
What a horrifying thing to say. The misunderstanding stack just ticked up another level, completely unintentionally.
As I watched her back with a sour feeling, approaching the door, Daypon bowed his head toward me — apparently apologizing on her behalf for what had just happened. Would've been nicer if he'd stepped in before she swung the sword... Well. I should just be grateful my neck was still attached.
Rrrumble.
With a heavy rumble, the enormous door swung wide open. Mad Wolf had opened it and gone inside first. The other Lords would all be gathered in there as well, not just her.
"Shall we go in, then."
Feeling as though I were walking into the maw of a monster, I entered the council chamber together with Daypon.