Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: A Necessary Evil
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The next day, Lee Shin logged into the game and went straight to the lord’s castle.
He wanted to consult with Count Aaron and arrange a place for Adam as soon as possible.
“Who goes there! …Ah, it’s you, Adventurer.”
“May I enter?”
“Of course.”
The power of authority!
The soldiers, who recognized Lee Shin, let him pass without any particular inspection.
Once inside the lord’s castle, Lee Shin grabbed a nearby servant and asked.
“Yes?”
“Where is the Count?”
The servant replied.
“The Count, you mean? Ah! As it happens, the Count was also looking for you, Adventurer.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
“What for?”
“That I do not know… He should be inspecting the domain, so why don’t you go find him yourself?”
“…”
Lee Shin nodded.
“I’ll do that.”
* * *
[A party member has logged in.]
[A party member has logged in.]
While Lee Shin was on his way to find the Count, Jeong Yu-ra and Arthur logged in right on time.
After joining Lee Shin, Arthur asked.
“Where are we going?”
“To find the Count.”
“What about the dungeon?”
“That’s why we’re going to see him.”
“...?”
Arthur looked confused, but Lee Shin simply opened his status window instead of answering.
He wanted to check the skill he had obtained last time but hadn’t had a chance to examine.
‘Status window, check skills.’
Salseong’s Second Secret Sword Art
A Salseong’s sword must be swift.
Use half of your maximum mana to deliver the fastest possible strike.
• The critical damage of attacks dealt with this skill increases by 30%, and it ignores 50% of the target’s defense.
• If you kill an enemy with this skill, all mana used is refunded, and the skill’s cooldown is reset.
• The damage of all sword-based attacks increases by 5% (Passive).
• Cooldown: 600 seconds.
‘Hmm?’
Lee Shin’s eyes gleamed.
The skill had clear pros and cons.
For one, the cooldown was quite long.
A ten-minute cooldown was excessive for a skill that didn’t have the destructive power or game-changing potential of a mage’s area-of-effect spell.
It also consumed too many resources.
However, in a way, all these drawbacks could be easily solved.
He just had to use it at the right time and kill the target in one shot.
The moment he killed an opponent, his mana would be restored and the cooldown would reset, completely nullifying the aforementioned weaknesses.
‘The damage is a bit weak, though…’
A 30% increase in critical damage and 50% defense ignored.
The numbers sounded impressive, but it was ultimately a single-hit skill.
However, considering the skill’s potential applications, this seemed only natural.
After all, Lee Shin had another skill related to consecutive kills.
Serial Kill
When you cause a series of kills in a short amount of time, your attack power, movement speed, and evasion rate increase by 100%.
• Activation Condition: Kill 10 or more enemies within 0.7 seconds.
• Duration: 4 seconds, refreshes upon contributing to a kill.
That’s right, Serial Kill.
And he also had ‘Critical Hit Stack–Explosion.’
With his attack power, movement speed, and evasion rate massively boosted, if he could detonate the Critical Hit Stack and keep resetting Secret Sword, it would create an incredible synergy.
Lee Shin nodded in satisfaction.
‘Not bad.’
Of course, he’d have to use it to know its true performance, but based on the description alone, it was a skill with great character and potential.
And Lee Shin was confident he could cover the skill’s difficulty with his own abilities.
His anticipation for the remaining secret skills he had yet to obtain grew.
[You are nearing your vassal, Count Aaron.]
Just as he finished checking his skills, Lee Shin found the Count.
The Count, visible in the distance, was surrounded by a crowd of domain residents.
“Found him. …Hmm?”
Lee Shin, who was about to approach, stopped in his tracks.
Something about the atmosphere between the Count and the residents felt strange.
The residents were all saying something to the Count, their expressions aggrieved, while the Count listened silently with a troubled look on his face.
‘What’s going on?’
Lee Shin tilted his head.
Shouldn’t Count Aaron’s approval rating among his people be extremely high?
‘Did something happen?’
“Isn’t it just because of you?”
“Me?”
“You were spending money like water on credit a while ago, since it wasn’t your own.”
“…Ah, is that so?”
Jeong Yu-ra’s guess was correct.
Just then, the residents spotted Lee Shin and pointed at him, saying.
“I’ll have a word about that part…”
“…Hmm? No, my Lord! It’s that man!”
“That’s the man who bought things from our store on credit…!”
[The residents’ complaints are rising.]
“…Lord Arthur.”
Bothered by the residents’ outcry, the Count approached Lee Shin with a troubled expression.
He glanced around furtively, then lowered his voice and said.
“I mean, what in the world have you been doing…!”
“Is something wrong?”
“The residents’ complaints are through the roof! And what’s more, the credit charged to my name has already surpassed 30 million gold!”
[The Count expresses his dissatisfaction.]
[The Count’s loyalty decreases by 3 due to your unconventional actions.]
[If you do not provide a satisfactory explanation, his loyalty may decrease further.]
‘…Did I really spend that much?’
Lee Shin scratched his cheek.
It was an enormous sum, even converted to cash!
This disaster was the result of him filling most of his inventory with scrolls, which were small in volume but high in price.
“I require an explanation. Why on earth would you do such a thing!?”
“…”
The Count demanded an explanation, but Lee Shin didn’t really have one to offer.
After all, he had done it purely out of personal greed.
If he gave that as a reason, the situation would only worsen.
“That’s not what’s important right now.”
So Lee Shin changed the subject entirely.
When faced with a difficult question like this, it was always easier to bury it with another problem than to offer an explanation.
“Pardon?”
“There’s something more important than a trivial matter of money.”
“Trivial? The amount you spent is no small sum, you know?”
The Count’s complaint was justified.
No matter how wealthy the Edgar domain was, blowing twelve million gold of personal funds overnight was bound to cause problems.
But Lee Shin ignored the Count’s reasonable complaint and stubbornly continued with what he had to say.
“Count.”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember the conversation we had right after our duel?”
“After the duel…”
At Lee Shin’s question, the Count’s expression instantly turned serious.
The Count moved to a quieter spot and opened his mouth.
“Of course, I remember. …Did you not say you would change the very sky over this kingdom?”
The kingdom’s sky.
He was referring to the current king.
“I did.”
“Why bring that up so suddenly… Have you had a change of heart, perhaps?”
“Not a chance. The revival of the kingdom is my sworn duty. …However, as things stand now, we don’t have a hope.”
“…No hope?”
“That’s right.”
“What do you mean by that?”
As the Count’s demeanor grew serious, Lee Shin brought up the story he had prepared in advance.
“I’ve been thinking…”
A rebellion isn’t something you can pull off in a day or two.
The ultimate target was the king, but there were naturally many hurdles to overcome to get there.
He would have to face the nobles who supported the king, their private armies, and the royal forces before he could even get a chance at the throne.
“Right?”
“Yes.”
It was a task that couldn’t be accomplished with the strength of just one or two people.
To face the enemy’s army, they needed an army of a comparable level.
The problem was that Count Aaron’s current forces were too small to raise an army of that caliber.
While his domain overwhelmed neighboring territories in every aspect, including economic and military power, that was the extent of it.
Taking on the entire royal family alone was obviously out of the question.
“Isn’t that so?”
“…Yes. But as for a private army, couldn’t we start raising one now?”
“Of course, we must. …So. There’s someone I’d like to recommend.”
“…?”
Having laid all the groundwork, Lee Shin slowly moved to the main point.
“Who is it?”
“A mage.”
“…A mage!”
“He’s exceptionally skilled, and he will never betray me. He doesn’t even ask for payment.”
“Such a pushover… no, such a mage exists…?!”
The Count was stunned by Lee Shin’s words, but his face soon lit up with delight.
Skilled mages were typically very expensive and had strong pride, making them difficult resources to manage. If what Lee Shin said was true, there was no downside for the Count.
The Count asked.
“May I meet him as well?”
“Of course. Would you like to meet him right now?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll bring him to the lord’s castle. Prepare a secret chamber.”
“Yes! …Pardon? Why a secret chamber…?”
* * *
Lee Shin headed straight for the dungeon.
“Let’s go.”
- Finally…!
“You can’t be seen outside, so wrap this around yourself.”
- A robe? Understood.
He then thoroughly wrapped Adam up and headed to the secret chamber the Count had prepared.
“This is him.”
“……That’s not a person!?!”
[Count Aaron is horrified.]
Upon seeing the lich, the Count naturally freaked out and shouted.
“Did I say he was a person?”
“You certainly did! …No, more importantly, he’s dangerous!”
[The Count unleashes his mana.]
[The Count…]
*Vwoooom!*
The Count, half out of his mind at the sudden appearance of a lich in the middle of his domain, was about to attack Adam without a second thought.
It was Lee Shin who stopped him.
“Enough.”
Lee Shin quickly stepped between the Count and Adam.
“My liege!? It’s dangerous!!”
“It’s fine. Didn’t I tell you before? He can never betray me.”
“That… hmm?”
Only then did the Count notice that Adam was remarkably docile, unlike a typical undead.
Faced with an opponent who had drawn his sword, he showed no hostility, not even taking a minimal defensive stance.
At this, the Count lowered his guard slightly and asked.
“What is going on? A lich is not supposed to be like this…?”
“I’ll explain that later. For now…”
Lee Shin first explained Adam’s golem-crafting ability.
That he could single-handedly create golems on par with mid-level 200 adventurers.
The Count nodded.
“Well, he is a lich…”
“What do you think?”
“Pardon?”
“Wouldn’t it be helpful to incorporate him into our domain? We’re going to need a lot more troops now. Wouldn’t having more golems be a help?”
“Ah, in that case…”
The Count muttered as if mesmerized.
But he soon realized something was off and hastily took back his words.
“…That’s not it, he’s a lich, isn’t he!? He’s undead, undead!”
“What about it?”
“He’s unclean!”
“Couldn’t we just wash him well?”
“…Absolutely not!”
The Count was adamant, but Lee Shin patiently persuaded him.
‘It’s for the good of the domain,’ ‘It’s a necessary evil to achieve our great cause,’ and so on—there were many justifications he could use.
In the end, the Count couldn’t hold out for long and had no choice but to nod.
“…Ugh. Very well.”
[You have persuaded the Count.]
[The Lich Adam is incorporated into the Edgar domain.]