Drinking with Arthur and Dropping the Pants
‘Right. The fact that Arthur is a woman is the truth recorded even in the Goguryeo history books.’
In The Chronicles of Otherworld Conquest, there are many protagonists. But there is a main protagonist and a main story kingdom, and that is the Kingdom of Britain and its prince(?) Arthur Lucien Elias. The question mark is there because she is a woman disguised as a man.
[Only a brave man who has reached the divine level with this sword may draw it.]
The reason Arthur Lucien Elias came to live the life of a woman disguised as a man is because of a prophecy passed down as legend. It concerns the one who would draw the holy sword Excalibur. The ancient wizard Merlin prophesied that only a man could draw this sacred blade.
‘Damn it. Whether in reality or in a game, parents who project their own dreams onto their kids are the problem.’
So why did Arthur decide she wanted to draw Excalibur? Arthur’s grandfather had an enormous ego. He firmly believed he was the one born to draw Excalibur. But he failed like a dog. That defeated male, Charles Lucien Elias, then began forcing it onto his children. No persuasion, just “Do it.” What a piece of shit.
‘Right. Fantasy can’t exist without superstition.’
His sons also failed. Honestly, if you burden someone like that, even someone with talent would probably fail. Anyway, the second son who became king now also failed. Then a famous fortune-teller told the second son that the Britain bloodline about to be born this time would draw Excalibur. So Arthur’s grandfather Charles had high expectations. But what happened? The child born was a girl. The prophecy clearly said only a man could draw Excalibur!
So did Charles beat the fortune-teller to death and give up? Not a chance. The madman Charles even gaslit them, raising his second son’s daughter as a boy. That is Britain mode’s protagonist, Arthur Lucien Elias.
‘Still, the protagonists in this game are all bright. Kind and good.’
Perhaps the fortune-teller’s prophecy wasn’t completely wrong, because Arthur grew up well even as a boy and revealed her extraordinary talent as a sword genius. But to spoil it in advance, the saying that only a man could draw Excalibur was a farce created because the words for “warrior” and “man” were used interchangeably in ancient times. Later, when Arthur learned the truth, she simply smiled. If it were me, I would have gone after the guy who interpreted it and my grandfather and grabbed them by the collar.
“I hope you like it. The food here is really delicious, and the owner has a long connection with me so he’s very kind. The room is also well soundproofed, so even if we laugh and talk like usual, no one will complain.”
Arthur showed me and Athena around the city before bringing us to a fairly large restaurant. At a glance, it looked like the best restaurant in this city. Britain has a reputation for bad food, so I really hoped this place would be decent.
‘She put a lot of thought into this. A place like this must be by reservation, and she would have had to book it well in advance.’
We entered a private room in the restaurant. The structure gave the feeling of the highest-ranking nobles entertaining guests. So of course the soundproofing would be excellent.
‘She said she wanted to make it an official national event, but she apologized.’
Arthur had hoped our meeting would happen after more time had passed. Her intention was to keep requesting it from her father and grandfather until it became an official national occasion. But timing was more important to me, and according to my calculations, Arthur’s current power alone was enough to keep Memphis in check from pulling any tricks. That would be even more beneficial in the long run.
‘As expected, nothing hits as hard as childhood experiences.’
So why was Arthur treating this Geum Taeyang so well? For reference, up until now the setup has been that I don’t know Arthur is actually a woman disguised as a man. Anyway, Arthur’s mother was constantly nagged by that bastard Charles for failing to give birth to a son at that crucial moment. So she often went to the nearby natural scenic spot Galatea for mental recuperation, and as a child Arthur, who was already out of his grandfather’s favor, always followed along. While recuperating there, the young child experienced the generous hospitality of the Mohican tribe. On top of already having a good image of the Mohican tribe as a Briton…
‘Plus, he’s ridiculously handsome. He’s the only barbarian at the Imperial Academy, which also makes you feel sorry for him, he studies well, and he’s good with a sword too? Being a model student is basically a passive skill. For the conservative Arthur, it was inevitable she’d develop a favorable impression.’
Our first connection was when I was in second year and Arthur was a first-year freshman. I was still being discriminated against in secret, and the new student Arthur couldn’t stand to see it. She was a champion of justice, so she eventually butted in despite being a freshman. Because of that, Arthur got marked by the seniors and had her joints worked over quite a bit for a while. Then I couldn’t just stand by and watch either. Naturally I joined in, and through that process a considerable friendship formed between us.
‘I would do the same even in my current state. In other words, what the past me did is no different from what the current me did.’
That is to say, Arthur Lucien Elias had already been thoroughly built up by Geum Taeyang during their academy days. Thanks to that, I get to reap the benefits now. I’ll eat well.
“Then you should have contacted me earlier. I would have attended both of your weddings.”
After the food arrived and we began eating, we first exchanged small talk. The topic of my marriage came up, and after hearing the timing, Arthur expressed great regret.
“You would have just suffered if you came. You’re extremely picky about where you sleep.”
“T-that’s not true, senior…”
I sipped the excellent wine and gave a smooth defense. It’s a common debuff for crossdressing female characters, isn’t it? Events often happen while washing, going to the bathroom, or in bed. Arthur is the same. To ordinary eyes she just looks like a somewhat slender man, but in reality something incredible is hidden underneath.
‘According to the setting, her body is being corrected by elven underwear.’
It’s not something as crude as a compression bandage. Charles was serious about making Arthur live as a man, and he somehow obtained that precious elven item. In other words, magic is being used to hide her figure. And even her peerless beauty is made to look like an ultra-handsome flower boy.
‘But ever since I used the Transcendent’s Eye once, I’ve been seeing her original figure as it is.’
Elven magic no longer works on me.
‘An even larger bust than Athena. Athena is a barbarian, but our junior must have had a hard time as a human. Ah, the functionality of that elven underwear is incredible.’
It’s being analyzed as a phenomenon created by the Transcendent’s Eye.
‘Favorability 95/100, that’s enormous. If she trusts me more than anyone except family after only two years of interaction…’
Honestly, this part genuinely hurt my heart. How much had she devoted herself only to the sword since childhood that she would trust a person she’d only known for two years second only to family? I felt I should love her with genuine pity.
‘A+ at twenty-one. No wonder she graduated early from the Imperial Academy.’
It’s because I’m growing rapidly with cheat traits. But again, A+ is a level beyond this world. If you have a certain amount of talent, reaching A is possible if you work your ass off over time. On the other hand, A+ is the realm of geniuses. A+, S, S+, each time you climb, it’s said that a limit break has occurred.
‘That bastard Charles was also quite drunk on the Excalibur high. He had mastered Elias Vision, after all. It was probably only the third time the vision had been passed down.’
Elias Vision can be considered the crystallization of Arthur’s special abilities. According to legend, it is the swordsmanship used by the previous wielder of Excalibur. That’s right. Arthur’s ancestor drew Excalibur and became the king of Britain because of it. But that’s such an old story that it’s treated as legend. Anyway, the vision was passed down, and among those who mastered it, Charles Lucien Elias was almost the first in recent times. Drunk on that high, he caused all that chaos.
‘But Arthur mastered that vision at the age of ten. Plus, the family’s treasured sword Elias also chose her.’
Little Arthur was ignored by Charles, but from the age of ten she received full support. The reason was that Charles had mastered the vision at thirty, while Arthur mastered it at ten, and she was chosen by the family’s heroic treasure Elias for the first time in three hundred years. Witnessing that miracle, the old man Charles Lucien Elias changed his attitude faster than light.
“But now that I think about it, like you said, senior, meeting like this just the three of us to talk seems better.”
After drinking some alcohol, Arthur continued with a thoughtful expression.
“Why?”
I know what she’s about to say. But I have to pretend I don’t.
“If the Round Table had officially mentioned the Mohican tribe situation, the nobles and other princes would have been uncomfortable. They all seem reluctant to antagonize Memphis, which has become an official continental power in the last ten years or so.”
Britain, which hadn’t gotten along with Memphis at all, was seeing that atmosphere change over the past decade.
“The idea of making Britain great again is gradually disappearing. Maybe because too much time has passed. So these days I feel quite complicated, senior. I’m holding a fairly important position and running around, but…”
Britain was once an incredibly powerful nation. Along with the current Darmina Empire, it had formed the three great powers. Since there was a king who drew the holy sword, the military power at that time must have been beyond imagination. But they became complacent, intoxicated by the nostalgia of those three-power days, and gradually declined until they became one of the four middle powers in the current 1 Emperor, 3 Powers, 4 Middle, 4 Small structure. Moreover, a significant portion of Memphis’s current territory was once Britain’s land. In other words, watching Memphis, whom they had always looked down on as trash, rise up by stepping on them, a Britain revival movement had been going on for a long time. But at this point, even in The Chronicles of Otherworld Conquest, the British nobles had entered “let’s just accept our position now” mode.
‘That’s the difference in motivation between Charles and Arthur toward Excalibur. Charles was clinging to it to satisfy his own ego, while Arthur wants to draw the Excalibur that started Britain’s glory and revive the country.’
At first, Arthur had set her heart on Excalibur to keep her mother and father from being scolded by her grandfather, but from her teenage years she began to dream a grander dream. That is the true beginning of Arthur Lucien Elias’s story in The Chronicles of Otherworld Conquest.
“So I’ve been thinking I need to help you even more this time, senior. I was impressed. That tremendous resolve and driving force to protect your tribe and race—I think that’s what Britain needs most right now. I want to learn from it too.”
After the hotline was established, we had been coordinating steadily until today’s meeting. The coordination was simply explaining my situation and my actions so far to Arthur and persuading her. There wasn’t much need for persuasion. I just explained, and Arthur was moved on her own.
“The situations of the kingdom and the tribal alliance are too different. I think your words are overpraising me.”
“Even if I were in the same situation, I absolutely couldn’t have done it.”
She was probably comparing herself a lot to her father. The current king of Britain and Arthur’s father, Thomas, was very timid under Charles’s shadow. Of course, I had aimed for that contrast effect.
“Even during our academy days, you were amazing, but I guess I only saw part of it. I thought you were just a model student who was always well-behaved and quiet…”
Arthur trailed off slightly while expressing her admiration for me.
‘She must have been comparing herself too. She probably sees me as freely expressing my identity as a barbarian. While Arthur herself can’t do that.’
What’s the reason? It’s the contrast between my identity as a barbarian and Arthur’s identity as a woman. She’s hiding it, while I expressed it to the fullest. And I even succeeded because of it. Arthur is secretly envious of this Geum Taeyang.
‘For the sake of the greater cause she’s stubbornly continuing to live as a woman disguised as a man, but Arthur is an extremely feminine character. The reason she puts up such a strong front is because she knows that and is being careful. Right now is exactly when Arthur’s inner conflict is beginning.’
In Leona’s story mode, world conquest and trauma healing are the two tracks of the overall narrative, whereas in Arthur’s story mode, world conquest and acknowledging and expressing her identity as a woman are the two tracks. The more Arthur craves Excalibur for the sake of her country, the more her true self dies, so she must have many worries.
‘It's also my strategy guide point as a heroine.’
As you can see from the status window, Arthur Lucien Elias is my heroine. She’s someone I need a walkthrough, take, and roll around with as one axis of world conquest.
Today’s meeting? While it’s to keep Memphis in check with the military authority Arthur holds, The purpose of strategy her is also included.
‘Shall I start slowly?’
And the strategy will proceed without hesitation.
“You seem to have a lot of pressure on you? Are you envious because I seem to freely express my barbarian identity, Arthur?”
Geum Taeyang indirectly touched Arthur’s inner thoughts and played his tricks.
“I am envious. You look really free. I wish I could borrow that freedom for just one day.”
Grin…!
With alcohol kicking in and her face slightly flushed, Arthur raised the corner of her mouth.
If she could use Geum Taeyang’s freedom for just one day, she would probably want to walk the streets freely as a woman to her heart’s content.
“I wonder if you’ll still say that after seeing this.”
Thud…!
Then Geum Taeyang stood up as if he had taken the bait.
—Swoooosh!
And he lowered his lower garments.
—Thud thud thud thud!!
His 26cm log, fully erect and throbbing, was revealed raw right in front of Arthur Lucien Elias.