Around the time he went on his first adventure, after successfully slaughtering and skinning his father’s enemies at Patrian’s novice hunting grounds, Lord visited a beef restaurant that he’d always wanted to visit. Inside, portraits of the holy founding emperor adorned half the walls of the hall. The restaurant was large and clean, and the menu was also reasonably priced. Because of this, it attracted a lot of customers.
It was an unfamiliar space for the crown prince, but Lord’s adaptability was higher than ordinary people. The boy experienced the first solo meal in his life at a charcoal-grilled restaurant. A question naturally popped in his head.
Why did his father love beef so much in the past?
Contrary to the promotional motto that went, ‘His Majesty visited us every day as a commoner because the beef in our restaurant was especially exquisite and delicious…,’ the meat here didn’t feel very special. There was no way that steak made of mediocre quality beef grilled over charcoal and dipped in salt could have an extraordinary taste.
Was it because, in the past, he was poor, so he would think about the cost-effectiveness of food? That couldn’t be. All over the world, there was food that was so much cheaper and more delicious than this. Did he hold a grudge against cows for some reason?
No, it was just that there was a limit to the amount of food that a single human was able to consume. It wasn’t advisable to harbor aspirations to exterminate cows by eating them unless Nefelina was brought into the equation. Essentially, according to the story of the Behen Archipelago he heard from Lord Sticks, his father was a man who hated rabbits and deer. It was hard to find anything associated with cows.
Doubts led to more doubts. Lord continued to contemplate during his adventures. Then, relying on his heightened senses, he began to feel a certain strangeness.
He started paying attention to the ‘unfamiliar words, concepts and proper nouns’ that flowed out of the adventurers’ mouths.
Originally, the players’ conversations often sounded like buzzing to NPCs, therefore distracting them. Modern terminology was meant to be interpreted to fit the world. This was the basis of Satisfy’s filtering system… Unfortunately, Lord was too clever and focused on his surroundings.
During his adventures, he listened to the conversations of ordinary players. When he stayed in the castle, he paid attention to the discussions between the Overgeared members, trying to figure out what differentiated them from himself.
He was obsessed with deciphering unrecognizable or awkwardly translated words and proper nouns. But, he wasn’t very successful.
Thus, Lord changed his perspective. He instead focused on the behaviors of the adventurers, not their language. Over time, he noticed that their attitude toward life was mostly positive and not so enthusiastic. It felt as if they perceived life itself as a pastime… Was this simply the leisure of those who had transcended death?
Why did they transcend death?
Why did they resurrect over time after dying?
The world understood it as a blessing from the gods, but that was just an overly expedient interpretation. There was no god, at least not in this world, who could bestow such blessings on humans.
Thanks to his innate intelligence and status, Lord’s level of knowledge was one of the highest in the empire. Naturally, he was well versed in theology. At a later point in time, he interacted directly with the gods of the Overgeared World. He cross-verified it with academic knowledge and the actual situation of Asgard.
Of course, there was a bit of help from Master Damian, who was the Goddess’ Agent and the former pope…
Anyways. On a certain day a few years later, Lord came up with a hypothesis, one that deduced the existence of a foreign god. Therefore, he came to the logical conclusion that adventurers came from an outside dimension. Based on their frequent ‘gaps’, he even figured out that they could move relatively freely between their home world and this world.
He finally understood why their attitude toward this world was so carefree.
‘My father’s hometown… Oddly enough, it must be from a world where beef is expensive…’
That’s right. For years, Lord had seen through the essence of players. He also recognized that his father was clearly different from him. He faced the reality that, from the perspective of the players, the people of this world might not be important.
It was inevitable. This was the fate of a smart child born as the offspring of the most powerful player, who was also surrounded by numerous players.
***
[Guild] Lauel, are you crazy?
The guild chat window exploded. The so-called experienced members of the Overgeared Guild were oblivious to the gazes of their juniors and scolded Lauel.
It was full of criticism for allowing Lord to join the war.
Lauel explained calmly:
[Guild] I am just the prime minister. I can’t handle the influence of the crown prince.
In order for its authority to be fully exercised, the Overgeared Guild must remain intact and well. In the eyes of the empire as a whole, not the guild’s, the ‘number two’ of the empire was Crown Prince Lord, not Lauel.
If Lord was determined to exercise his authority, Lauel was forced to be relegated to the third position. This was especially applicable if the Overgeared members were away, just like now. The reason why others hadn’t realized this until now was because Lord always respected and followed Lauel’s instructions.
[Guild] I couldn’t handle it because the nobles barged in and put pressure on me. He didn’t blink even when I took out the black flame dragon.
[Guild] You should’ve thought about that later and stopped him forcefully.
[Guild] The forces of the imperial palace are loyal to the imperial family. That is the law of the empire that His Majesty and I created. Besides, is Lord ordinary royalty? After all, he is the authorized successor of His Majesty.
[Guild] No, don’t you have any private soldiers?
[Guild] I’m not a rebel. Why would I have something like that?
[Guild] I’m going to destroy the warp gate.
[Guild] The person who just spoke, do you have udon noodles for your brain?
Lauel alone had too many people to deal with. Vantner interjected once the conversation finally strayed.
[Guild] If Lord dies, Grid will be sad. The arrow of resentment will be aimed at you first, Lauel, for failing to stop Lord.
Perhaps this was just the tank player speaking. Despite his lack of intelligence, Vantner faced reality straight on. He refrained from making empty promises, such as protecting Lord at all costs. He also reminded the others that Grid was an ordinary human being who could get caught up in his personal feelings.
[Guild] I already said that to the crown prince.
Lauel was one step ahead of Vantner. The moment his persuasion didn’t work, he honestly confessed to Lord about his position.
If you die, I die.
Lord’s reaction to that was… Well. It left Lauel speechless.
[Guild] He said that princes and princesses better than him will soon be born, so what am I so worried about? His Majesty will find stability as time passes, so there is no need to worry.
[Guild] ……
The Overgeared members were at a loss for words.
This was the first child born to a player and an NPC. Therefore, he was suitable to represent all types of symbols and, as a result, there were many people who thought Lord was special.
Furthermore, the Overgeared members had been watching Lord since he was a baby, steadily bonding with the child who grew day by day. They saw him either as a son or a nephew, and they felt anguish that this child, now grown up, was prepared to die.
It was especially saddening that he mistakenly thought that his younger siblings, who would be born soon, could sufficiently replace him. The reason why he was precious to them wasn’t because he was a prince, but because he was Lord.
[Guild] The crown prince is very clever, but he loves His Majesty just like his mother does. He is more concerned about His Majesty’s safety than his own. Thus, he couldn’t stand it and decided to set out. Both the empress and I couldn’t stop him from using the crown prince’s authority to assemble the knights with the purpose of rescuing His Majesty.
The Overgeared members knew what Lauel was going to say. Now that it had come to this, he was going to tell them to cooperate with Lord to rescue Grid. Grid’s life was more important than Lord’s. If Grid died and lost his status, the future of the empire would be bleak.
The expressions of those who were tired of climbing were distorted with even more pain.
[Guild] Now that this happened, make sure to rescue Grid.
Just as they expected. The Overgeared members sighed as Lauel made an unexpected request.
[Guild] Defend the crown prince at all costs.
[Guild] This guy… In private, he calls me Uncle.
***
For the past ten years, Lord walked the same path as his father. The plausible reason for this was to indirectly experience and study the great accomplishments of the founding emperor. People saw this as a type of successor class.
Some nobles who wanted to make their daughter the future empress whispered that the prince was flattering his father and spoke rude words about him…
Lord heard their words but he didn’t much care for them. He just wanted to know more about his father, who was so far away from him.
He had vivid memories of his father teaching him various things when he was young. However, his father was often absent from the imperial palace. In rare, severe cases, he wouldn’t see his father for months. Even when he did see him, it was mostly at the smithy.
Lord understood that his father couldn’t help being busy. He started as a commoner, then became a nobleman, conquered a kingdom, built an empire, defended his allies and people, saved the world, and also became an object of faith.
He didn’t resent his father at all. The love he gave to Lord was too great to accuse him of not being a proper parent. He never once forgot Lord’s birthday. Every time his father made a new piece of armor, he made sure to make a spare one and give it to Lord, so he would always be safe.
There was no reason to be resentful, and no time to be wasted.
Lord only loved his father, but his love was poisonous. The deeper the love for his father grew, the stronger his desire to know his father became. Thus, he’d embarked on the trip, visiting the places that appeared in his father’s adventure stories. He fought against enemies that his father had fought against, and battled new enemies that had appeared due to his father’s influence.
His adventures were similar to his father’s, though they were also very different at times. Sometimes, he saw the same scenery as his father had seen in the past. Sometimes, that scenery was entirely different to what his father had seen. Still, he felt the same emotions as his father had at that time, thus bringing forth a faint sense of unity, and he was overcome with the belief that he was getting closer to his father in this manner.
Of course, he felt surprised on many occasions. Even when he learned that his father was weaker than ordinary people. Even when he found out that his father had experienced countless failures. Even when he found out that his father was the embodiment of jealousy. Lord was extremely shocked when he discovered that the chain of resentment his father had created was much deeper and gloomier than he’d initially thought.
However, he had never felt disappointed. Lord admired his father because he was weak, understood him because he experienced failure, and was relieved when he saw how his father used to be in his old days.
One day, he realized that his father, whom he thought was infinitely further away after becoming a god, was a human being just like him.
Yes. So what if his father didn’t just take care of his family because he had to look after two dimensions? It didn’t change the fact that he was his father’s son. Lord didn’t waver at all. To those who resented his father, he bowed his head in silence. He cut without hesitation those who criticized or threatened his father. He accepted all of this as a responsibility that any child should bear.
“You…”
“He must be tired.”
Lord bowed to the swordsmanship master, who was giving him a reprimanding look, and spoke.
“He has mostly always fought alone.”
Because the enemy was strong, he was hoping that his subordinates wouldn’t be hurt. The stronger the enemy, the more his father struggled. He rarely properly utilized the power he’d worked so hard to gain. Keeping in mind that all kings and emperors throughout history always cared about protocol, he was truly unconventional.
Originally, the more symbolic an existence was, the greater the consumption value. For the sake of security and dignity, the high-ranking people overworked those below them like slaves. Every move a high-ranking person made would end up as an event. Their followers invested a lot of resources in this event for all types of political reasons.
However, Lord’s father handled most of the events that the fate of the nation rested on. That might have been because he was strong. But it was also possible because he transcended death.
But being strong or different didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t lonely.
“I want to share his burden,” Lord said. His eyes, filled with determination, looked at the golden dragon in the sky.
The dragon was big enough to cast a shadow over the mountain range. The enemies that his father had fought were far greater than this…
“I believe that you will understand me more than anyone else, Master. The past of being alone and the present of being together. Which one are you happier with?”
Kraugel relaxed. The experience of sharing joy and pain with his comrades was special to him. Frankly, his usual feelings were the same as Lord’s. Grid, who had been alone at some point, was always on his mind.
“Let’s fight together. But don’t die. Don’t forget that no one can replace you. Before you are the prince of the empire, you are our disciple and our family.”
“Of course.”
Lord laughed. He had no intention of disparaging Grid, but it was a fortunate thing that his smile resembled his mother’s. This flawless and clear smile won everyone’s hearts.
The Overgeared members were overflowing with confidence. This was the fruit of Grid’s love. In addition, a poor child born as an NPC in the game… They wanted to protect the bright smile of this child who would live on without knowing the truth.
Of course, there were those who willingly jumped onto the battlefield on their own.
“…I think he is doing well enough.”
The legendary lightning warrior, Kyle.
He couldn’t disobey Basara’s order to come over and help the crown prince.
Unlike the days when she was a mere (?) empress, she was now Grid’s wife and was even carrying Grid’s child. Her commands were too frightening to be ignored.
Despite grumbling and sighing the entire time, Kyle firmly stuck to Lord’s side.
“The crown prince will be in the lead.”
Kyle’s opinion was rightly ignored. Before he knew it, he took the lead under the coordination of Kraugel and Asmophel.
“This is crazy…”