I Became the Commander in a Trash Game Who Copies Skills

Chapter 164. The Emperor (3)

Elves, Ratmen, and the Church.

These were the final boss-level factions added with each world scenario update from 1.0 to 3.0.

It goes without saying, but it wasn't just final bosses like them that were added in the world scenario updates.

With each update, new factions, heroes, weapons, technologies, skills, traits, and unit types were added.

What's interesting is that these new elements, along with the boss-level factions, were always summarized into about three important keywords each time.

The keywords for 1.0 were ‘Elves’, ‘Gunpowder’, and ‘Magitech Engineering’.

For 2.0, they were ‘Ratmen’, ‘Curses’, and ‘Ruins’.

3.0 was ‘The Church’, ‘Transcendent Beings’, and the ‘Eastern Empire’.

Now that the 4.0 update has taken place, the changes in this world will also, with a high probability, be summarized into three keywords.

Keywords that I must find.

I think I know one of them.

‘Sacred Relics of the Outer Gods.’

I had already collected five of them.

Kkumteuli, Tick-Tocky, Starfish, Eyeball, and Crusty.

I gave them comical names and made it a daily routine to mock them as ‘subspace tenants’ or ‘sugar-addicted ancient lifeforms’, but I never once forgot that their origins were extraterrestrial beings that transcended even time and space.

They were literally ‘gods’.

Outer Gods who bring about the end of the world.

If I had played through thousands of worlds from the perspectives of various races and factions, they had personally destroyed even more worlds.

“The sacred relics have long been a subject of research for the imperial family. Because they were objects that contained the power of the Outer Gods, which were only passed down in legends.”

The Emperor said, sipping a tea that seemed to be a blend of various herbs, which the Apothecary had brewed and left behind.

“The church has a fit at the word ‘Outer God’, but well, if that's the case, we can just use a different term, can't we? Alien species, false divinities, or even demons. Actually, a demon's sacred relic sounds funny.”

“Even for the imperial family, it must have been difficult to collect sacred relics secretly, avoiding the eyes of the church.”

“No. The church's gaze was secondary. It was difficult to find them in the first place. In the past, there were almost no clues other than ancient historical records. The situation improved after the church appeared. At least, since it's an existing group in the present era, it became easier to track.”

He brought a finger to his lips, gesturing for me to keep quiet, and continued.

“Ah, this is all an imperial family secret.”

Well, I had roughly expected it.

As they say, great power attracts even greater power.

The empire is the most powerful human nation in the western part of the continent.

Even looking through all the history books, nations of this magnitude are few enough to be counted on one hand, including the ancient Lumer Legion and the Eastern Empire.

On the other hand, the power of the sacred relics was enough to make even the imperial family's eyes glaze over.

“They say there's a place in the far southern sea where the church directly summoned an Outer God. Ah, I have no intention of doing that, by the way. Don't misunderstand.”

“I know you're not the type to do that.”

“Is that so? That's a relief. I thought it would be difficult to leave a good impression on you. Anyway, even without summoning an Outer God, the power contained in a sacred relic is equivalent to… or even greater than the transcendent beings hidden throughout the continent.”

That wasn't wrong.

Just looking at what I had, it was true.

Spatial teleportation, summoning a doppelgänger identical to the main body, infinite mana, and so on.

Each one was something that couldn't even be imitated by ordinary skills or traits.

Of course, compared to the actual power of the Outer Gods, it would be nothing more than a fragment.

I could easily recall that just by reminiscing about my memories from beyond the monitor.

In World Scenario 3.0, the church would occasionally succeed in the Outer God advent ritual during battle.

In that case, that battle was a guaranteed defeat.

It didn't matter how much you had pushed the church back until then.

‘The battle area and the surrounding vicinity would even turn into a dead zone that couldn't be entered.’

It wasn't something to be proud of, but back then, I had a strong experimental spirit.

I wanted to measure the combat power of the Outer Gods, so I remember using about a few dozen playthroughs for experimental purposes.

Among them, the last experiment was the most grand challenge, where I deliberately dragged out a playthrough that was as good as won to create a divine army with over ten transcendent beings and charged in.

The result was the same.

An effect as if space was tearing apart, a shadow covered the battlefield, and a battle result report with ‘Defeat’ written in huge letters appeared on the screen.

It meant that even transcendent beings were no match.

After that playthrough, I decided to neatly fold my experiment on measuring the combat power of the Outer Gods.

The Emperor, who had emptied his cup before I knew it, looked me straight in the eye and asked.

“Did you know? In fact, what's contained in the sacred relics is not just the power of the Outer Gods.”

“Is that so?”

“Their consciousness is also projected onto the sacred relics. So, the sacred relics are a kind of window through which beings residing outside this world look at this world. For a person, it would be like drilling a hole in the ground with a reed and looking into an ant hill, I suppose.”

The Emperor let out a deep breath.

The bitter scent characteristic of herbs vibrated strongly in the room.

“It's also the key to obtaining the power of the ‘Warrior’. Well, that's for another time.”

“That's what I'm most curious about. Isn't it the ability that moved nearly a hundred people from the Ratman den under the imperial capital to Wolfskrig?”

“There's still time. Today, I'll make a different proposal first. I said this sacred relic digs up and stores information about a target once every hundred years, right?”

“Isn't it basically like an external hard drive?”

“Like a what?”

“Ah, this isn't a story for today. Next time.”

“…Were you always that childish?”

Childish?

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

It was a law older than the history of the empire.

“Anyway, back to the main point, when this sacred relic stores information about a target, do you know that it also stores information about the user of the sacred relic?”

“…Are you saying that information about Your Majesty was also stored?”

“That's right. And not just that. If anyone has used this sacred relic even once in the past several thousand years, all of their information is stored.”

The Emperor put down his cup.

With a finely trembling hand, he caught the sacred relic that was moving like a pendulum from side to side in mid-air.

“This is the reason I've struggled so hard to protect this land. Because I caught a glimpse of the figures of such powerful enemies through this sacred relic.”

“…….”

“Someday, they may be the enemies you and I will have to face. I will tell you about them.”

***

To get straight to the point, I did get information.

But, how should I put it?

It was a bit lame.

‘There are conditions.’

‘Pardon?’

‘I'll show you one by one.’

‘……?’

‘One a day. If you're curious, you can come and see me every day, right?’

It's not like we were lovers meeting every day a month before Christmas to eat chocolates from an advent calendar.

Still, if he was going to share the information stored in the sacred relic in exchange for a visit to his sickbed once a day, I had nothing more to ask for.

It was as good as handing over half of the sacred relic's ability to me for almost nothing.

However….

‘You're getting a glimpse of the Outer Gods' secrets in exchange for being a conversational partner for a dying man. Isn't this a good deal?’

‘?’

‘You weren't expecting me to show you for free, were you? No, isn't this practically free? I trust that the busy Viscount Wolfskrig is not the kind of person to be petty over a few visits to a sickbed. Yes, I do believe so.’

That strangely friendly, somewhat cheap-looking rhetoric was what bothered me.

To the point where I doubted if he was the iron-blooded emperor I knew.

It's definitely not because I was annoyed or my pride was hurt.

As if I, who was equipped with [Lord's Unyielding Mind], would be provoked by someone's words.

‘Master, when dealing with the Emperor, doesn't that mithril-like mind of yours get canceled out by his?’

‘…Quiet.’

Anyway, it was just yesterday that I accepted that childish proposal.

The Emperor, as per the contract, told me about the person who had used the sacred relic right before him, about a hundred years ago.

Well, it was a bust.

The user was an unremarkable merchant.

A peddler from the southern region who had wasted the power of an Outer God, which could be used once a century and could even discern the possession of other sacred relics, on finding ways to make his business competitors fail.

“Hoo…….”

“Is something troubling you?”

“It's nothing.”

“……?”

Well, the Emperor was the Emperor, and the domain was the domain.

If the lord had returned to his domain, he should get to work.

My exhausted body had sufficiently recovered over the past ten days.

After announcing that I had ‘returned from personal training’, I began to tackle the backlog of domain work.

Fortunately, Bart and Olif had taken care of the paperwork I was worried about in a timely manner.

Thanks to them, I had the leisure to take a look around and see how much the domain, which I had left empty for quite a while, had changed and how well it was following the roadmap.

The place to inspect today was the church building, which was under new construction.

I had made a spot for it in the middle of the district that was expanding into a commercial center, and not only was the surrounding population and location good, but some of the dwarves' architectural technology was also applied.

Its grandeur was a good fit for Wolfskrig, the ‘city of the paladin lord’.

After looking around the construction site with Alina, I moved on to the next location.

“Please speak. I may not be a good advisor to you, my noble lord, but I am always ready to listen to your story.”

By the way, maybe because it's been a while since I've been in the city.

Our saintess candidate also seemed to be pressing me more than usual.

Teasing her once might be a good experience.

“Have you thought about assassinating the Emperor?”

“…Pardoooon?!”

“Just kidding, just kidding. I said it because if something happens to His Majesty's person in this city, it's my responsibility. It won't happen, but just in case an assassin comes or something, we have to be prepared for that possibility, right?”

“…….”

Honestly, I did briefly consider killing the Emperor and taking the sacred relic.

It was a real, fleeting delusion.

It was realistically impossible.

Even though he seemed to be dying from the plague bomb for now, the Emperor was still the Emperor.

In this crazy fantasy world, being an emperor was a position that could be attacked at any time by superhuman assassins, commissioned curse casters, hostile spellcasters, and vengeful cultists.

Apart from his personal abilities, just the magitools he wore all over his body were on par with a high-level mage.

He could probably blow up Wolfskrig using just half of the magitools he had.

Furthermore, Ella Siollus and the rest of the Imperial Secret Knight Order were also staying at the Lord's castle.

“…My noble lord.”

“Hmm?”

“Whatever happens, I am on your side. Since you saved my life with Luark's blessing, I too, along with the grace I have received, will offer my life….”

“I-I said it was a joke?”

“If need be, you can use me as a shield and escape. As long as you are safe, my noble lord….”

“…….”

I should stop joking from now on.

In the awkward silence, we arrived at the plaza cafe.

As I sat in the reception room on the second floor, a middle-aged man soon entered.

It was Archduke Gabir Maraz.

Since the Emperor's party's presence in this city was a secret, he wore a cloth covering his head and had a light disguise magic on him. With slightly heavy steps, he sat down in the seat opposite me.

After casting several layers of magic to block the outside view and soundproof the room while leaving the curtains open, I spoke.

“I greet Your Grace, the Archduke.”

“Please be seated, Bishop Alina. Be seated, Viscount Ash. You must be busy after returning to your domain after a long time, thank you for accepting my request.”

The Archduke's voice was somewhat weak. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs noᴠelfire.net

For reference, he had woken up five days ago.

Which meant he was still recovering his condition.

It would be better for him to focus on recovery rather than work, and even if we were to talk, we could have done it inside the Lord's castle, but it was his wish to set up the appointment outside.

“I'm sorry, but I'm not in a position to talk for long. I still have no strength in my body.”

“You will be fine in a few days.”

“Let's get straight to the point. Viscount Pewin, no, Count Pewin, has contacted me.”

“Count… you say?”

Alina's eyes widened at the mention of her grandfather.

“Ah, his becoming a count was decided just a short while ago. As I followed His Majesty and left with the expeditionary force for the underground city, I asked him to come to the imperial capital.”

“You needed someone to take charge of the capital.”

“That's right. Ostensibly, His Majesty is ruling. But to manage things from behind the scenes, he'd need at least a count's title, wouldn't he? We'll have the investiture ceremony later, for now I've just granted him the title on paper.”

“It seems His Majesty had prepared for it in advance.”

“You catch on quick. It's to prepare for any eventuality.”

The Archduke fiddled with the end of his beard.

After wetting his throat for a moment, he turned his head to look out the window.

Even though I had cast a spell to obstruct the view, you could see outside from within.

The scene in the plaza could be summarized in one phrase.

Bustling peace.

As if the fierce battle that had taken place just below the imperial capital until recently was something from hundreds of years ago, people were moving about, engrossed in their own livelihoods and leisure.

“Count Pewin has contacted me. He said he arrived at the imperial capital three days ago. He's taking care of the urgent measures first.”

Gazing at that scene, the Archduke smiled bitterly.

“He said the imperial capital has become a hellscape where people cannot live.”