Overwhelming Firepower

The knights and craftsmen busied themselves unloading crates and securing gear. Vardon had already entered the mansion, disappearing into his chambers without a word. Once Lucen and Robert had finished inspecting their own belongings, they followed suit.

The entire Thornehart mansion was filled with mana lamps. The second Robert saw this, he could not help but shout.

”Nope! I can’t stay here! This entire place reeks of the stink of those Grey Tower b*stards.”

”Is there a room here without mana lamps?” Lucen asked one of the servants.

”Yes, young master.” The maid answered respectfully. ”There are a few in the west wing that still have no mana lamps in place.”

”Thank you, that’s good enough.” Lucen glanced at Robert, who clicked his tongue.

”Tsk, I guess that’s fine for now. So, when are we going to try and see what we could get from eating the giant troll meat?”

Robert, still a bit irritated by how many mana lamps were in the mansion, changed the subject. When the servants heard Robert’s words, they were visibly rattled as they looked at one another.

Still, they remained ever the professionals and kept their mouths shut. They were servants of Thornehart, and as such, will reflect the dignity as befits this noble household.

”Not today,” Lucen said, suppressing a yawn. ”I’m tired. We’ll do it tomorrow.” He turned to the maid beside him. ”Can you guide me to my room?”

”Of course, young master,” she curtsied. ”Right this way.” Lucen followed her down the hall, footsteps echoing against the polished floor.

”Boring... Fine, tomorrow it is.” Robert grunted, spinning on his heel. ”You show me the room without any of these irritating mana lamps.”

”Please follow me.” One of the maids answered while curtsying.

”Very well, show me.” Robert walked off, following behind the maid, already mumbling ideas under his breath.

***

Lucen’s new room was far larger than the one he had in Ironhold, which was as he expected.

High ceilings framed with intricate woodwork, a wide window that looked out onto the moonlit garden, and polished floors that reflected the soft light from the mana lamps. Lucen set down his things in a corner, but his weapons were placed near his bed just in case he needed them.

Lucen then rummaged through his bag and took out a notebook. This was the notebook where he wrote everything he remembered about the game, the second he regained his past life’s memories.

He flipped through the pages to see what items or useful people could possibly be in the Capital during this period before the game starts.

’The sword of Norvaegard should be hidden in the treasury of the royal family. The third strongest weapon in the game. It is one of the items needed to get the royal ending, where the protagonist becomes the new king of Norvaegard. That ending wasn’t really that good, since you can end the story midway without doing much.’

Lucen remembered first unlocking that ending and was disappointed since it ended the story without learning who the enemies are, and it didn’t even give any good skills.

’Also, I won’t be able to use the sword anyway since it’s a weapon that chooses its owner, and one of the requirements to even be able to touch the sword is that you should have absolute faith in your companions. If you made a mistake in the dialogue even once, the sword would never respond. Now, in reality, this rule should be even harder to gain.’

The current Lucen truly believes in his chosen allies, but at the same time, he knows that he cannot blindly believe in them the same way Alexander would, the ever pure and righteous.

’What am I even thinking, that guy Alexander did have a couple of endings, he turned evil... Well, I guess he only became evil because he was so pure and trusting. I guess no matter what dialogue you choose, the only reason Alexander does anything is for his companions.’

Lucen couldn’t help but remember all the endings the protagonist could have had in the game. No matter the ending, he chooses it’s always because of his companions that he ends up in those situations. The only ending where the protagonist decides for himself was the true ending, which was arguably the best ending.

’I wonder what the current protagonist is like?... Right now, he should be a little boy just turning six... Damn, I got too caught up in the nostalgia.’

Lucen shook his head as he continued reading his notebook to see what or who would be useful to get while he was here in the Capital. He continued reading through the notebook and saw something interesting.

’Oh right, the underground arena is somewhere in the lower sections of the city. Back in the game, Alexander would enter the arena because of one of his classmates who participated in the arena. If Alexander is crowned champion of the arena, he gets the chance to unlock the revolution ending, and he also gets the hidden martial arts book, which gives him a choice to pick one of three unarmed techniques.’

Lucen, who read those words in the notebook, started thinking about it. Even though his current system, which gives him skills and traits, wasn’t the same as the one used in the game, it was still very similar.

’Maybe I can unlock a new skill, or even a trait related to unarmed combat, if I join the underground arena... I’m not sure if my own system will acknowledge such things. The system’s rules weren’t always clear. But if those martial arts books can even give me half the edge it gave Alexander... Then I have to try.’

Even though it has been a year since he regained his past life memories and the system, there were still many unknowns about it. The system itself was already hard to understand how he acquired a system from a different game entirely.

There was also the fact that the system that was from a different game gave skills and traits that did not exist in its original game. There was also the difficulty of guessing what each skill and trait does, since the system doesn’t tell him.

’Whatever, even without the system, the martial arts book would surely help me in training... The problem is, how can I join without anyone knowing I went there? I can’t actually go out on my own... I can’t sneak out, many of the people here would notice once I try to do it... Tsk, better try thinking about how I can go, for later. For now, let’s continue looking to see what else I can do while I’m in Caellhart.’

Lucen continued to scan his notebook, but most of the people and items listed weren’t in the Capital at this point in time. Some of them didn’t even exist yet.

’There must be a few things here that I could use.’

Lucen continued to flip through the notebook, which read like a walkthrough of the entire game with every possible ending written in it. A smile appeared on Lucen’s face as he read his notes.

’I really was devoted to this game, wasn’t I?... To think I could write a very detailed walkthrough, the second I regain my past life’s memories. Heh, I kinda wish I could play my console games again.’

He paused as the page he was looking at blurred a little, not because he was tired, but because he felt nostalgic.

He closed the notebook and leaned back, the soft creak of the bed beneath him oddly familiar. In the quiet, his mind drifted, not to tactics or training, but to home. His old home, the one so clear in his memories... It wasn’t as grand as the one he was in now, but it had everything he needed.

A small fridge at the side where he kept his energy drinks. An inverter AC was cooling down his room. He also liked reading various manga, manhwa, and light novels. Which was why he had a large bookshelf in the back of his room.

Of course, he read other non-fiction stories, his favorites were sci-fi and fantasy, but his favorite thing in his room was the four monitors to play and watch various things. The gaming chair where he sat comfortably, where he could lean in and relax. He practically lived in that gaming chair, controller always in hand.

Lucen remembered the feel of his favorite controller as he pressed the buttons. It always felt right and calmed him down. The headphones in his ears were making it sound like he was really there, but of course, now he was truly in a game-like world.

’This place was already so stunned by the simple gameplay of reversi. I don’t expect them to have any entertainment that I would find fun... Now that I think about it, I did say that I would want to watch a play. I guess since I can’t watch anime or movies here, that would be the only other alternative.’

Lucen then remembered that he had seen a few plays in his past life, mostly Shakespeare’s, as he got interested in them due to an anime he watched. His favorite being Hamlet.

’I’m curious how the level of plays here compares to the masterpieces in my past life... I wonder... If the plays here suck, maybe I could adapt the ones I know... I would start with Hamlet. Everyone loves tragic sword-wielding royalty...’ A soft chuckle escaped Lucen’s lips.

’Well, that’s for another time, I guess. For now, I need to focus and see what items I can get.’

Lucen continued scanning the notebook while already thinking about many other things he should do while in the capital.