“If it’s Eblus…”

“Don’t worry. I already confirmed that the [Heretic Altar] was set up inside the royal palace.”

It was just a guess, but that’s what I said for now.

Well, it wasn’t entirely wrong since I was almost certain.

“…Amazing.”

“I thought you’d say that. The Essence of Eblus isn’t something common–”

“More than that, what surprises me is that you made such an offer.”

After hearing my proposal, the chief said nothing more, and a long silence followed.

“…”

“…”

That quiet moment wasn’t bad for me.

I hadn’t been thrown into the situation right after waking up. I needed time to calmly sort out my thoughts.

‘Jerome Saintred…’

What happens if I hand over this body to the chief?

Though I had made the proposal, I hadn’t deeply considered the aftermath.

So to sum it up quickly.

‘…It’s fine?’

The chief becoming the First Royal Knight Commander itself was quite positive.

For one, the royal family’s strength would decrease.

Also, since there was some secret connection, we could share information or make deals behind the scenes when needed.

The only problem was the moral aspect…

‘He’s the one who stabbed me in the back first.’

If that bastard hadn’t tried to hand me over first, none of this would have happened. Maybe there was even a world where the two of us joined forces to overthrow the chief.

If that chief really thought highly of himself, he would have just knocked everyone down and taken my body outright.

[Coming here confirmed it. You were the one who operated under the name Iron Mask decades ago in Noark.]

Jerome was already convinced that I was the ‘Iron Mask,’ so I had to somehow find a way to explain it or shut his mouth.

If that matter spread to the royal family, it would become a weakness–

“Just one question.”

When my thoughts reached that point, the chief slowly spoke.

“What happened after I was defeated by them?”

Yeah, I figured he’d want to know.

He probably wasn’t sure if I was telling the whole truth yet. He wanted to get more information before making a final decision.

So this time, I answered honestly.

“You’re executed as is. By Jerome’s hand. He strikes your neck seven times with a sword until it’s cleanly severed.”

“That doesn’t make sense–”

“And while I was dead, one of my comrades uses the Resurrection Stone.”

That’s the scene from the future I had seen.

“You have the Resurrection Stone…?”

“Believe it or not, that’s the truth.”

“…”

The chief sealed his lips again to gather his thoughts, and * Novelight * (Only on Novelight) I waited silently as if giving him time to think.

“If that’s true… it’s understandable.”

“Which part?”

“If what you say is true and I fail to fulfill my purpose, then why would you make me such an offer?”

He was wondering that inside too.

Thinking that he was a clever guy, I kept my expression neutral and spoke.

“Anyway, as long as the Resurrection Stone exists, your goal can never be achieved.”

The Resurrection Stone has two key features.

One, the resurrection must happen immediately after death, and only on the corpse of the dead person…

“When the Resurrection Stone is used, the user loses their memory.”

Memory loss is the second feature.

In the game, when the Resurrection Stone is used, the character loses memory and all intimacy and other stats reset.

Thinking back, it was a lousy mechanic.

We used that precious item to revive them, but both of them eventually left the party.

“Definitely… that’s troublesome.”

Fortunately, the chief seemed well aware of this feature of the Resurrection Stone. If not, it would have taken ages to explain.

“As the records say, someday you’ll leave this place… but since that item exists, it means the person leaving could be neither you nor me, but someone else.”

Hearing that, I felt we were close.

Because the chief’s biggest reason for wanting to seize my body was ‘certainty.’

My body will leave this floor someday.

If he only took this body, he could escape this place with 100% certainty.

The Resurrection Stone shattered that premise…

“So, what will you do?”

Now it was his decision.

Will he seize my body with the Resurrection Stone variable? Or will he use Jerome Saintred’s body to escape the city?

I was a little uneasy just waiting for his answer, so I added an option.

“If you want to take that bastard’s body, I’ll help too.”

“You… are quite different from the stories I’ve heard.”

“Well, I don’t know what you’ve heard about me, but this is self-defense. Didn’t he stab me in the back first?”

“True.”

“So, your answer?”

I swallowed and asked, and the chief replied.

“I refuse.”

…Damn it.

“Refuse… you say?”

I couldn’t understand it at all.

I had given a rational explanation why choosing Jerome was reasonable, yet he refused? That cold bastard couldn’t have made an emotional choice…

“…Why?”

“Because of your existence.”

“…What?”

The baffling answer was followed by an explanation I could understand.

“Even if I took his body, you would know my true identity, wouldn’t you? If you went outside and said something, my hard-earned life would be in trouble.”

He wanted to eliminate witnesses.

“So?”

“Therefore, I judge it better to kill you here and take his body.”

“…Are you an idiot? I betrayed the royal knights to help you, and you think I’d blab about it?”

“People can’t know the future. Ironically, trust isn’t built on faith.”

It was truly ironic, but from that one sentence, I felt room for negotiation.

Trust isn’t built on faith.

That means if I offer something trustworthy, he might accept my proposal.

“So… what do you want?”

Actually, the chief didn’t hide his intent at all in response to my question.

“Your weakness.”

“…”

“If you have something that can destroy me with a single word, I could trust you and join forces.”

He wanted to squeeze every advantage.

“What if I don’t have such a thing?”

“Those without guilt don’t ask such questions.”

It was a classic case of confirmation bias, but at least this time, he was right.

Several weaknesses immediately came to mind when I heard the word.

The evil spirit.

The incident where I killed the Rose Knights at Ice Rock.

And decades ago in Noark, when I obstructed Jerome and stole a fragment of the record stone.

If I wanted to speak, I had a lot to give.

And if giving it meant avoiding the future the goddess showed me, it wasn’t regrettable.

But…

‘Who does he think I am, a pushover?’

I answered firmly.

“I refuse.”

Not an excuse that I had no weakness, but a clear refusal.

“Refuse… you say?”

Like before, asking with disbelief, but my answer didn’t change.

The very fact he made that offer was proof.

My offer sounded very attractive.

Yeah, so…

“As I said, you have two choices. Accept my offer or refuse and do whatever you want. That’s it.”

I said finally.

“There are no conditions.”

“…Bold in a life-or-death situation.”

“Barbarian warriors are all like that.”

My calm answer somehow made the chief smirk slightly, and without hesitation he replied.

“Enough talk. Let’s figure out how to seize Jerome Saintred’s body.”

Phew, almost got played.

After the negotiation with the chief ended successfully,

we had a long conversation inside the cave.

How to bring Jerome Saintred into this cave and seize his body.

Actually, planning this didn’t take long.

If the chief and I cooperate, it wasn’t a difficult plan.

Only other parts of the conversation dragged on.

“So, what’s that ‘thing’ you promised Jerome? Now that we can be considered allies, tell me.”

That was the part I was curious about.

What exactly did I offer to make Jerome decide to hand me over?

Surprisingly, the chief answered coolly.

“The Heart of Karui.”

“Karui…?”

An ancient evil god’s name suddenly came out.

When I tilted my head, the chief kindly explained,

pointing at a black stone in the middle of the cave.

“That’s it. If you sacrifice a human life, you can use one of the powers of Karui from the myths. The reason I can steal others’ bodies is all thanks to this.”

It was an item that hadn’t appeared in the game.

Well, no surprise really.

“So why did Jerome want that?”

“Because it’s one of the royal family’s treasures. Originally, this belonged to the Immortal King. My current state is all because I stole this item.”

More important than what crimes the chief committed in the past was what I needed to listen carefully.

“It was a royal treasure? Don’t tell me… the Immortal King’s immortality came from this item?”

“Ah, didn’t you know? The Immortal King continued his reign by taking over his child’s body after birth. That’s why he always wore a mask.”

It was a hidden secret in the great kingdom of Rafdonia.

‘I never imagined the Immortal King had such a secret.’

Maybe the reason the Creation King defeated the Immortal King and took the throne wasn’t ‘liberation,’ but just because he wanted to survive.

‘Or maybe… the Immortal King died because this item disappeared.’

Anyway, from the perspective of the later Creation King, this treasure was priceless.

No wonder Jerome’s eyes went wild hearing this.

His loyalty to the royal family was real.

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense. If you took this item and disappeared, how did the Immortal King live for thousands of years?”

The Immortal King lived a nearly eternal life and died about 150 years ago.

“Well, I was surprised when I heard that too. But isn’t it the royal family? Surely they found some method.”

“Yeah, so you don’t know…”

Immortal King. Heart of Karui. Creation King…

What kind of events happened at that time?

I was very curious, but there was nothing more to find out here.

“Is that all you’re curious about?”

“No, one more thing. Then what happened to the Silver Lion Clan chief who was sent to the library?”

“Oh, that? One of the village warriors was sent to observe your movements. If you set the condition of stealing the body for one month, the amount of sacrifice needed for the ritual is greatly reduced… Wait, why am I explaining all this?”

Ah, he caught on.

I was also wondering why he was answering so thoroughly.

“Enough talking. Let’s go up.”

The chief abruptly ended the conversation and led the way.

“He’s waiting.”

Jerome Saintred.

It was time to make that bastard pay for stabbing me in the back.