Putting Things in Order
Even after the meeting began in earnest, I stayed right where I was, seated in the council chamber.
Not that I had any reason to open my mouth. They were going on about matters I couldn't begin to understand, and I had no intention of inserting myself. Once the meeting wrapped up, we traded a few words about the evening banquet and the days ahead, and then I returned to my room — which was where I now found myself.
"Hah."
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly into empty air, and a hollow laugh slipped from my lips.
The 7th Lord of Calderic.
From this moment on, that was me.
A few hours ago I had been living a life of utter mediocrity, and now I was suddenly a Lord. If this wasn't a meteoric rise, nothing was. Though from this instant forward, I hadn't the faintest idea how much of my life I had left.
Calderic's territory could be broadly divided into ten regions: the central domain of the Grand Lord, ringed by the First through Ninth Lord Territories. The Lords weren't called Lords for nothing. Each of them ruled and governed a vast land equivalent to a kingdom in its own right. Now that I had become the 7th Lord, I too held absolute authority over Enrok, the 7th Lord Territory. This was possible only because Calderic's thrones were not inherited by blood. They were appointed solely by the Grand Lord.
That did not mean, however, that the Nine Lords swore absolute loyalty to the Grand Lord. She was their leader and the center of gravity, yes — but as I had seen in the meeting, the relationship among them was closer to a horizontal contract than a vertical hierarchy. Save for a handful of established conditions, the Lords were free to act as they pleased, bound by nothing.
I remembered reading about why this peculiar structure had formed and endured, in the setting materials related to Calderic's origins. The explanation had been quite detailed, as I recalled, but the core of it boiled down to this: the Grand Lord's abilities were that exceptional, and under her competence the power structure itself had solidified over the long passage of years. Some of the current Lords had already spent more than a century at her side. Shintoe, the 1st Lord in particular, had reigned as a Lord since Calderic's very founding — hundreds of years. A system sustained by bonds that deep was, in some respects, even more solid than the typical monarchy of the Seintea Imperial Alliance.
None of that really matters.
Where had everything started going so wrong? I ran through a string of regrets, then suddenly found it all rather absurd. Where had it gone wrong? Whatever I had done or hadn't done — the very fact that I had been dropped into a game world was already as twisted as twisted could get.
I got up from the bed and picked a fruit that looked like an apple from the basket on the table. I took a big bite, and sweet juice flooded my mouth. It tasted subtly different from the apples I knew, but it was good all the same. I hadn't felt like eating given the circumstances, but I had been hungry for a while. A sudden wave of hunger hit me, and I demolished several pieces of fruit in no time before slumping back in the chair.
No need to overthink it.
I had already crossed a river I couldn't recross. Was there any point in regretting every little thing, in lamenting my situation? Preparing for what lay ahead was, needless to say, far more productive. Once I settled my mind, those limp, sagging emotions vanished in an instant. Thanks to Emperor's Soul, a cold, unshakable composure had taken root at the very foundation of my heart, ready to keep me from wavering at any moment.
This was not Earth. Nor was it a world with a modern, twenty-first-century backdrop. Monsters, bandits, war, demonkind — every kind of danger teemed here, a rough and savage land where life was cheap. Unless I found a fundamental way back to my original reality, this fragile life of mine could be threatened at any time. And I knew all too well what dark future awaited this world.
But there was no reason to despair, either. My head was packed with countless pieces of knowledge and information about this world — I had been one of RASA's most notorious veterans, after all. And it wasn't as if I had no abilities whatsoever. Instant Kill and Emperor's Soul — an instant-death skill of absolute effect, and a mental-stability skill to match, one of each. Of course, it would have been ideal if my original character's abilities had transferred in full.
Anyway, looking at it positively, the situation wasn't entirely bad. The position of Calderic's 7th Lord was an enormous risk, but it could also become a source of strength. At the very least, I would wield absolute power within Calderic's borders. Depending on how I used it going forward, leveraging the information I possessed to prepare for the dangers to come would clearly be a tremendous advantage.
That said, the Grand Lord...
My train of thought drifted toward Grand Lord Rashatein. She was an even more unpredictable figure than I had imagined. I couldn't know exactly what her intentions had been in handing me a Lord's seat, but it wasn't entirely incomprehensible either.
She hadn't asked that for no reason.
Why I had come to Calderic. That was the first question the Grand Lord had put to me. My guess was that it had been a minimum verification. She possessed the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood in another person's words, after all. My answer — that I had no particular purpose — would have been judged as truth, so she at least knew I harbored no ulterior motives.
Ah. I wonder if she also figured out that Ron is an alias.
At a glance, it might have seemed like the Grand Lord had made a slapdash decision, but that wasn't the case. Whatever else she was, she was someone with the capacity to have ruled a colossal power like Calderic for an unfathomable span of years. She might have simply parked me in a Lord's seat for now, intending to observe my actual abilities at her leisure. Well. Anyway.
For now, I do what I can.
Having more or less sorted through my tangled thoughts, I stood up. What I needed to start immediately was clear. Organizing the information in my head, and drawing up a plan going forward. That came first.
"See? I knew leaving that seat empty instead of parking some half-baked nobody in it was the right call. Don't you think, Daypon?"
Daypon offered no reply to Rashatein's words. He knew she wasn't actually looking for an answer. But he shared the same thought. Appointing a new Lord was the Grand Lord's exclusive authority — but dismissing a Lord once appointed was not something even she could do as she pleased. Had there been no vacant throne, it would have been difficult to offer any other position to the new master who had only appeared today.
"Still, I found it somewhat unexpected."
"Hmm? What was? Handing him a Lord's seat right off the bat?"
"Lord Ron... I suppose I ought to address him as the 7th Lord now. In any case, I had my suspicions from the moment you had him attend the council."
Rashatein grinned.
Ron. Thinking about it again, he truly was a peculiar human. She had been genuinely surprised, especially when he had seen through her Polymorph. It had been a half-playful test, but among all the Lords throughout history, the only one who had immediately discerned her true identity — besides the current 3rd Lord, Heavenly Bow — had been no one at all.
More than that, at her level of existence she could perceive far more than a subject's mere external qualities. She could see something far more essential. A sublime soul that called a sovereign to mind. She still knew nothing of his actual abilities, but there was no room to doubt that he was a powerhouse on par with the other Lords.
"And did you see that look on his face? Like he was bored out of his mind."
"..."
"If I'd wasted any more time testing him, he might've just gotten up and walked out, haha! I was not about to lose him that easily."
Daypon, too, had been paying attention solely to Ron throughout the meeting. The man's expression had been so unchanging that Daypon had privately wondered whether he might refuse the Lord's seat — but fortunately, that had not happened.
"The 7th Lord said he's heading out right away?"
"He will likely remain at the castle a while longer. I have already dispatched a messenger to Enrok."
"Right. Anyway, you did well. This outing produced far greater results than its original purpose."
Chief of Staff Daypon had gone to Seintea in person for an important purpose of his own, but right now Rashatein's mind was occupied with nothing but thoughts of Ron.
"He was aboard the Achemon transport ship as a prisoner, wasn't he."
She had been fully briefed on what had happened aboard the transport ship — the circumstances of her first encounter with Ron — before the meeting began. Including exactly how he had killed Fist Saint Garton.
"You really didn't sense any particular energy when he killed the Fist Saint?"
"No, as I reported. None at all. It is possible I simply failed to perceive it, but we were less than ten paces apart..."
"Hmm. Then it's probably not magic, then."
From the moment she had entered the council chamber posing as a servant and first laid eyes on him, Rashatein had been carefully observing Ron. But she had felt no mana from him whatsoever.
"There's no way he fooled even my senses, so the odds are high it's a Mystery."
"..."
"Or it could be a racial trait I've never even heard of. He looks human, but he might not be. I wonder what kind of ability it is."
Watching her murmur with a smile of genuine interest playing across her lips, Daypon ventured a question.
"Why did you not look into it more thoroughly?"
"I told you. He wasn't the kind of person you waste time testing. And Ron wasn't even his real name."
"Ah... so that was the case after all?"
"Yeah. But as for the rest, it's not like he'd just tell me if I asked."
Rashatein knew that Ron had not revealed his true name. Distinguishing the truth mixed into a person's words from the lies was no difficult task for her.
"Well, I confirmed what I needed to confirm, so the rest doesn't much matter... but I do want to look into his identity myself at some point. It's been a while since something this interesting came along."
"...Surely you do not mean to go to Seintea?"
"Haha, don't look so shocked. Not right now — later, when I've got time. You always worry too much, Daypon."
Rashatein waved a hand and grinned.
"Anyway, let's take it slow and watch. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of path our new 7th Lord will take."
Several days passed.
Life at the Grand Lord Castle was as comfortable as it could possibly be. The meals were excellent, the bed was soft. Servants stood ready nearby at all times, bringing whatever I needed the instant I asked, so there was nothing to be inconvenienced by.
"..."
I was standing blankly by the window, letting the breeze wash over me. In a plaza-like open space on one side of the castle grounds, knights had gathered and were training. The reason I still hadn't moved to Enrok, the 7th Lord Territory, and remained here was because I needed to get my thoughts in order.
I had spent the past few days almost entirely shut in my room, keeping myself rather busy. First, I had confirmed that this world, as I had expected, differed in time period from the RASA I had played. Year 759 of the Lakironia Continental Calendar — precisely about five years in the past. I had pulled every important or even marginally useful piece of information from my memory — including events yet to come — and written it all down, so I wouldn't forget. Since I had written my notes in Korean, there was no chance anyone here would be able to read them, so I felt no burden about keeping them. And based on the information I had recalled, I had also drawn up a rough plan going forward.
What I need most is combat power.
The top priority was, of course, strengthening my own personal specs. I was weak. Far too weak. Including the matter of my personal safety, there was a limit to what I could do with the combat power of a mere Level 1. The Instant Kill skill was a trump card that could kill anyone it touched, regardless of who they were — but that was all it was.
If I could kill opponents and gain experience to level up the way I had when playing the game, powering up wouldn't even be a concern. But now that the game had become reality, that unfortunately seemed impossible. If the experience system had remained intact, something should have changed when I killed the Fist Saint. On top of that, there were no stat windows, skill information screens, inventories, or any other systems. I had even tried muttering at empty air just in case, but nothing appeared. Aside from the two skills I possessed and the level displays visible in my field of view, this place was a complete reality that merely happened to have a game as its backdrop.
How to grow stronger in reality. Obviously, you trained through hard work — like those knights down below. But I didn't have that kind of time. Even if, by some chance, I turned out to have extraordinary talent for swordsmanship or magic, it wouldn't change anything. How long would it take to start from complete beginner and become strong enough? And who would I even learn from? After a few years, maybe I would barely reach around Level 30? Even the lowest-ranking knight at the Grand Lord Castle would be far above that.
Which meant there was only one method. I needed to acquire a kind of ability that would make me strong in an instant, without putting in any effort at all. The Mysteries hidden across the continent, or the hidden pieces waiting in ruins and the like. Even just along the road from the Grand Lord Castle to the 7th Lord Territory, there was one Mystery I could obtain. Those wouldn't strengthen my fundamental combat power, but they were the only way to amplify my specs in a short period of time. However...
It won't be easy, of course.
As with any fantasy, the places where fortuitous encounters were hidden were generally harsh terrain. This world was no different. Monsters, traps — I didn't have the ability to push through all those dangers and reach the destination. Use a Lord's authority to send someone capable of doing it to retrieve them for me? If there were no other options, I might have to resort to that, but it was an uncertain and thoroughly unreliable method. And there were plenty of things, like Mysteries, that couldn't be retrieved by proxy — things I had to go get myself.
Wandering the continent in search of hidden pieces was something I couldn't do alone to begin with. Which meant I needed an exceptional ally. Someone who could reliably guarantee my safety at my side, anytime, anywhere.
Yes. In other words — a bodyguard.