Chapter 2 : Chapter 2
Chapter 2
First, I needed to grasp the situation.
I turned my head and asked the woman who was still holding my hand.
“What year is it?”
The start of Lost Chronicle’s ‘Monarch Mode’ was Imperial Year 783.
“What? It is Year 773, Young Master.”
“Exactly 10 years ago.”
“What?”
Leaving behind the woman who looked at me with worried eyes as if asking what I was talking about, I organized my thoughts.
The ‘Slave Swordsman’ written in the quest was clearly a warning from the system that I would lose 10 years if I failed the quest.
‘Because Ian was kicked out as a Slave Swordsman the moment the game started.’
I, who had read even the scribbles on discarded pieces of paper to find hidden pieces, knew the hidden information and pieces that Ian, who became a Slave Swordsman, was unaware of, but they were nothing but trash I couldn’t use if I became a Slave Swordsman.
‘First, I have to overcome the addiction.’
Above all, I couldn't go through the pain I felt earlier again.
Of course, it was impossible to endure quitting the drug for seven days, so I needed another way.
Before I could even think of another way, drowsiness washed over my relaxed body.
On my first day in Locke as Ian, I fell asleep, relying on the cold sensation in my hand.
* * *
“Young Master, please wake up.”
Warm sunlight.
The feel of a soft blanket and a cozy bed, something I had never felt before in my life.
“Young Master, it’s time to wake up.”
My eyes opened naturally to the voice that gently woke me.
‘So it wasn’t a dream after all…….’
In the reddish room, the maid who had held my hand yesterday called to me, pushing a tray lavishly filled with soup, bread, and bacon.
“Young Master, please eat before you sleep.”
Red hair tied up and reaching her waist, a sharp nose, and lips as red as her hair.
Even her large eyes looked down at me, full of affection.
Although I saw her face for the first time yesterday, I knew this woman.
“Reina?”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Reina.
A character who didn't appear in ‘Lost Chronicle,’ but was the one Ian mentioned the most.
She was a popular character, so much so that a fan club was formed for her based on her descriptions in the game.
‘Because Ian missed her that much.’
Reina, said to be the daughter of a servant brought by his biological mother, was the only one he could trust, the one who took care of Ian even when the whole world hated him.
‘The reason Ian tried to survive until the end was because of that woman.’
Ian, who had made an irreversible mistake towards her, never gave up in any situation to honor her last wish for him to survive until the end.
She was the woman who made him unable to give up on life, even as he was sold off as a Slave Swordsman and faced the world’s persecution and hatred.
“Young Master?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
I gazed at her smile, as bright as a flower in spring, for a moment before grabbing a piece of nicely sliced bread and taking a bite.
‘First, I need to solve this poison problem…….’
As I couldn't immediately identify the poison, I was contemplating whether to call a priest or a doctor.
The moment I chewed and swallowed the bread, feeling its soft texture, a message appeared.
[You have been poisoned. Addiction Dependency: 59%]
“What?”
What kind of nonsense was this?
I was poisoned just by eating bread?
‘Don’t tell me…….’
Next, I took a spoonful of soup, and as expected, a message appeared.
[You have been poisoned.]
“What is this…….”
Then, I ate some bacon and drank some water, and an alert saying I was poisoned appeared again.
“Young Master, are you alright?”
Seeing my flustered state, Reina asked with a worried look, but I couldn't answer easily.
For some reason I didn't know, what I had yesterday wasn't ‘medicine’ or a ‘treatment,’ but poison.
On top of that, this meal was filled with the malicious intent to poison Ian.
Suddenly, a thought struck me as odd.
‘Reina definitely tried to stop the treatment yesterday.’
Her voice, whispering like a plea as she held my hand tightly, telling me I had to endure, was still vivid in my memory.
‘Both she and Ian knew something was wrong with the medicine.’
Judging from the pain I felt yesterday, Ian must have been avoiding the ‘treatment’ for a long time.
To the point of losing consciousness from the unbearable searing pain.
“How many days has it been since yesterday?”
At my hopeful question, Reina answered with a sad voice.
“It was the fifth day. You asked me to stop you from taking the medicine no matter what…….”
As expected.
Both Ian and she knew something was strange about the medicine.
After reassuring her several times that it was okay as she bowed her head and apologized, I continued.
“Reina, my memory is all jumbled up after quitting the medicine for a few days. Why did I stop taking it?”
“That’s……”
I asked Reina again, who was looking down, unable to answer.
“Reina, look at me. The only person I can trust right now is you. Why did I stop taking the medicine?”
Ian must have explained about the medicine to Reina and asked for her help in quitting.
As Reina was the only one who could fill the gap between the information I knew and reality, I had to get as much information from her as possible.
“That… that is……”
Reina’s subsequent explanation was quite startling.
“I hit you?”
“Yes. You said it was because you were drunk on medicine and alcohol, and you’ve already apologized several times.”
“Was that the first time I hit someone else?”
“That……”
Her averting gaze, as if she didn't know how to answer, was a sufficient response.
He must have acted out towards others enough to earn the title ‘Scoundrel.’
After all, he was a ‘Scoundrel’ acknowledged by the system.
“Then it must have been the first time I hit you.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
It seemed that even such a scoundrel found it hard to believe he had been violent towards Reina, who cherished him.
To think he tried to quit the medicine while enduring that pain.
“Do you also happen to know that the medicine is poison?”
“You’ve said it several times, but all the doctors and scholars in the domain said it’s not poison.”
“They said it’s not poison?”
“Yes. We’ve already checked several times. You also said there was medicine in the food and drinks, but they didn’t react to the priests’ detoxification spells either.”
At her explanation, I briefly looked at the meal in front of me.
‘Are all the doctors and scholars in the domain corrupt? No matter how corrupt the priests in Locke are, there’s no way they would have pretended not to see the poison…….’
Since the system judged that I was poisoned, it was certain that poison was used.
A potent poison that increased aggression and hindered rational judgment.
‘A poison that neither doctors, scholars, nor even priests can detect…….’
Having played as the practically powerless Ian, I could confidently say that I knew more about the poisons, medicines, and consumables in this game than anyone else.
‘Themapin? No, Zolpidem? Hmm… seeing as even the scholars don't know, it must be a new poison…….’
Suddenly, one poison flashed through my mind.
‘Could it be?’
A poison that shouldn't appear at this time, but one that perfectly matched the description.
‘Is it Queen’s Mercy?’
‘Queen’s Mercy,’ the miracle painkiller distributed by the Empire after the war between humans and monsters began.
Beginner players thought this miracle drug, which healed even the severely wounded and sent them back to the front lines, was their last hope, but the more they used it, the more they realized they were wrong.
‘I got a game over because of soldiers who went mad and attacked their allies, and an army that couldn't move a single step without the drug.’
The beginning of the bad ending I had seen dozens of times, which was hard to avoid even knowing the strategy, was Queen’s Mercy.
【Bad Ending No. 009 Despair in the Name of Hope】
However, a cure existed for this seemingly incurable poison.
‘Because I found it.’
However, Queen’s Mercy was a drug distributed by the Empire 15 years later, when the monsters waged their war of conquest.
How did a drug that shouldn't exist at this point in time flow into the remote region of a minor nation?
“Is there anyone from the Empire in the domain?”
“Um… I heard the Regent studied abroad in the Empire.”
“The Regent?”
“Yes. The Count dispatched from the kingdom after the Duke went missing… no, went away. You also liked him, saying he was a kind person.”
Reina answered my questions kindly, though she gave me a worried look when I mentioned my memory loss.
‘There's a high chance it came from the Empire. Has the Empire possessed the drug for over 15 years?’
Contrary to the Empire’s claim in the game that it was a hastily made drug to fend off the monster invasion, perhaps they had known about the drug’s problems since this period.
‘Why would they use such an important drug on a young duke in a remote region?’
“First, getting rid of the poison is the priority.”
“Young Master, it seems difficult to quit all at once, so how about reducing the amount little by little?”
“If it’s the poison I’m thinking of, I have to quit it completely. For now, please go and get the things I told you.”
If there was medicine in the water and food, I had to consider the entire domain an enemy.
The only person I could trust was Reina.
“Please.”
As soon as I finished speaking, she replied with a bright smile.
“Whatever the Young Master wants, Reina will get it for you.”
* * *
After Reina left to get the ingredients, I sat in the empty room and continued to think.
How was I, who had only stayed in my room and played games, not going crazy?
‘Is it because of Immovable Mind and Steel Heart?’
I could recite Ian’s traits, which I had played with hundreds of times, with my eyes closed.
【Immovable Mind 】
The unshakeable and unbreakable heart of a hero's descendant has been passed down.
-Greatly increases resistance to all types of status ailments.
【Steel Heart】
The spirit of the iron-blooded monarch, who remained stoic even in the face of death, has been passed down.
-Greatly increases resistance to all types of status ailments.
‘Thanks to the ridiculous status ailment resistance, I’m maintaining my sanity even after taking Queen’s Mercy.’
Finally, there was an even more important trait left.
【The Capable Incompetent】
Acquire the traits or skills of the person you teach.
-Only applies during individual training and not in group training.
The cheat-level trait that allowed the weaker-than-a-farmer Ian to survive numerous battles and eventually rise to the position of monarch.
If you taught swordsmanship to someone, you could acquire their sword-related traits, and if you taught magic, you could acquire magic-related traits.
‘Theoretically, it’s a cheat trait since you can acquire all traits, but…….’
Ian, who was sold off as a Slave Swordsman with his Mana Hole destroyed in the game, could learn neither swordsmanship nor magic.
It was a meaningless trait since there was no one who would want to learn anything from Ian, who had only 1 mana.
In the end, Ian had no choice but to learn all sorts of miscellaneous skills like pathfinding, first aid, fortune-telling, escape, thimblerig, herbalism, and toxicology, teach them to people, and collect low-grade traits.
‘The Capable Incompetent. It’s just as it sounds.’
A knowledgeable but shallow incompetent who was worse than a common soldier in the most important battles.
A trait that looked good but was useless.
‘Now that my Mana Hole is intact, everything depends on me.’
Although I couldn't trust all the information I knew due to the 10-year gap, it wouldn't be entirely impossible to become a monarch if I used my sturdy Mana Hole and my superior position as a Young Duke.
‘First, the domain. I need to distinguish between friend and foe before Reina returns.’
Ian got up and began to search around the room.
‘According to the game’s setting, there should be a diary somewhere…….’
No matter how much he lived like a scoundrel, steeped in drugs, he was still Ian, who had Immovable Mind and Steel Heart as his traits.
‘I need to read the records from before he went mad.’
Who was the enemy, whom did he suspect, and whom did he rely on?
How did Immovable Mind and Steel Heart crumble?
There was too much information I needed to know.
‘Found it.’
After searching the room for a long time, Ian's eyes lit up when he finally found the diary hidden inside the bed mattress, as if it couldn't be found by anyone.