Chapter 58
Peter disliked Duke.
No, rather than dislike, it was closer to envy.
From the moment they first met until now, Duke had never once lost his way.
Even if he regretted his choices, he never hesitated to make them.
That was why Peter envied Duke.
At the same time, he respected him.
Before crossing the drawbridge, Peter poured all those feelings into a few words for Duke.
“Thank you.”
“Did you eat something strange on the way here?”
“Tsk. Can’t a man say anything?”
Peter clicked his tongue in displeasure, but the corners of his mouth were lifted.
“I mean, thank you for understanding the doubts of an old man like me.”
Peter carried countless doubts within him.
He had wanted to prove his loyalty to the Empire by laying down his life for it, yet at the same time, his life was far too precious to sacrifice for a corrupt Empire.
Though Rex was better suited to rule than Hana, Peter had pitied her for wandering as he did and falsely pledged his loyalty to her.
And, just before reaching the city, he had briefly felt lingering attachment to the Empire.
Every one of those doubts was shameful even to speak aloud.
Duke had put an end to the old man’s uncertainty on the drawbridge.
The two had exchanged only a very brief conversation, but it had been enough for the old man to cast his doubts aside.
“It’s embarrassing to admit, but if I ever hesitate in front of Lord Rex again, scold me like that once more.”
“That won’t happen.”
“You sound awfully certain.”
Peter eyed Duke suspiciously at his strangely firm assertion that he would not waver again.
It was a reasonable suspicion: perhaps Duke had the ability to see the future.
And in a sense, Peter’s suspicion was correct.
“Of course.”
However, Duke’s character setting described him as a knight of both scholarly and martial prowess, able to see through the future with sheer wisdom, without any prophetic ability.
With that setting in mind, Duke stood before Peter and led him toward the entrance.
“You’ll understand once you pass through the gate, too.”
Peter tilted his head and crossed the gate.
Before long, he was met with an unbelievable sight.
“Good heavens···”
The first thing he noticed was the fragrant air.
He could barely smell the stench of rotting corpses and excrement common to the streets of an ordinary city.
Peter immediately figured out why.
“A sewer···!”
Overcome with emotion, the old man approached a manhole near the gate.
On the way, he felt the finely paved road with his cane and marveled once more.
“It’s been a hundred years since I’ve seen a city like this!”
The Hexion Empire was famous not only for its fortresses, but also for its road network and sewers.
There was a reason people said, ‘All roads lead to Hexion.’
Unfortunately, after the Empire fell, most kings and nobles were uncultured upstarts, so they paid little attention to infrastructure like this.
Even before that, the artisans had died, severing the transfer of their knowledge.
Even the Sneria Domain, said to be the wealthiest in the kingdom, lacked the knowledge to properly plan a city and had only managed to recreate these facilities imperfectly.
In an age like that, Rex had built infrastructure that surpassed even what the Empire had at its height, all in just ten years.
That was why Peter was moved by these basic facilities alone.
“Now that I think about it, every road was paved from a certain point along the way.”
“His Lordship plans to pave roads throughout the duchy within the next five years. The sewers, too.”
“Incredible. Truly. Absolutely incredible.”
Peter continued to marvel.
Duke, a modern man, wondered if something like that was really enough to move someone so much.
‘Well, that’s how these misunderstanding stories go.’
Somewhat excited, Peter continued with his questions.
“But if you want to do all that in five years, you’ll need a lot of labor, won’t you? Did you use mages?”
“That would be too expensive. Instead, the beastfolk have been doing a splendid job.”
“Slaves?”
“Watch your words. There are no slaves in the duchy.”
“There aren’t? Then how do you maintain your labor force?”
“You’ll understand when you see the people.”
“What does that mean··· I see! Since you don’t discriminate against demi-humans, productivity has actually gone up!”
Slavery and discrimination against demi-humans had originally been systems the Empire created to maintain its power and exploit free labor without shame.
They made the elves provide forests and fruit, the merfolk work the salt flats and fisheries, and the beastfolk do heavy labor or cultivate cotton.
The Empire’s officials and people believed that their prosperous way of life could only be maintained by putting demi-humans to work as slaves.
But···
“Ha-ha. I was a fool, too! People work harder when they’re free! Why couldn’t I think of something so obvious?”
Rex, who came from a capitalist society, knew very well from history that this was not the case.
When Rex persuaded his officials about this, he said the following:
<People who work under the whip only do as much as their quota.
But people who are paid for their work will find a way to keep working even when you tell them to stop.>
(···That’s what the official records say.)
Of course, empty-headed Duke knew none of these details. He was simply guiding Peter toward the realization, figuring he would make the right assumptions on his own.
Duke continued showing Peter around and explaining what set the duchy apart from other countries.
“Hmm? That merchant’s gulden seems to use a different system of denominations.”
“Our lord changed the standard for gold coins. He converted the complicated old currency system to one based on tens.”
He had also changed yards and pounds to the metric system.
Duke generally didn’t understand the significance of Rex’s reforms, but he considered this one a once-in-a-generation achievement.
After using ounces, pounds, and inches and all that nonsense, he had felt the quality of life change dramatically when he started using meters and grams for the first time.
Of course, Peter seemed to interpret the reform a little differently.
“Good heavens. So he’s already preparing to make the kingdom independent.”
A system of measurement was tied to a way of life.
Just as people who used meters wouldn’t want to associate with people who used inches and pounds, changing the system of measurement meant drawing a line between their ways of life.
In a sense, it was also treason against the royal family.
For that reason, Peter interpreted the fact that Rex had been preparing this for several years as preparations for a coup.
‘Of course, he only changed it because it was inconvenient for him.’
Duke couldn’t understand the kind of thinking that connected a change in measurement systems to treason.
As Peter crossed the capital under Duke’s guidance, a blissful smile gradually spread across his face.
“The Sneria lord’s capital was impressive, too, but Lord Rex has surpassed even my imagination.”
Of course, the Sneria Domain was more prosperous at present.
Rex had only been at it for ten years, and there were limits to how much he could change the citizens’ attitudes and infrastructure in that time.
But having once been a duke himself, the old man recognized that Rex’s city had far greater potential.
“Give it ten years, and he’ll catch up to Lady Sneria.”
Its infrastructure, system of measurement, education, and even welfare.
Thinking of all those things, Peter dared to make a bold prediction.
“I’ll stake my word on it. Its growth won’t stop for the next hundred years.”
While a country is growing rapidly, its people are bound to cry out with joy.
That’s because jobs keep being created and the economy keeps booming.
“He’s even taking care to manage the pace of growth.”
“He is.”
Duke had no idea what signs of that effort Peter had noticed, but he simply agreed.
“Do you understand now what I meant at the entrance?”
“Yes. You were right again. With all this, I have no need to keep wandering.”
Rex lacked neither the ability nor the character to deserve Peter’s loyalty.
The old man smiled broadly.
“Now I won’t have to worry about a foolish ruler anymore.”
*
Duke, who had instilled loyalty in Peter while showing him around the city.
“Then let’s go swear an oath to our lord officially.”
“An oath?”
As Duke led Peter to Rex, he explained the oath to him.
Basically, special people like Peter could make a stronger pact with Rex than an ordinary lord-vassal contract.
And so Peter went with Duke to Rex and swore his oath.
“My lord. I swear my loyalty until my bones turn to dust.”
At last, Rex got to see a special ability unlocked by the oath for the first time in ages.
‘All right, let’s see what we’ve got.’
What ability had this old man been hiding, and what ability had awakened?
With the feeling of rolling a gacha, Rex opened Peter’s status window.
“···?”
===========
Name : Peter
Age : 890
Race : Fishfolk (Dragon)
Level : 76
============
Rex froze.
What? Was something wrong with his eyes?
How could Fishfolk and Dragon both be listed together?
As though he had noticed Rex’s confusion,
or perhaps because he thought he shouldn’t keep anything else from his lord,
Peter explained on his own.
“Lord Rex, are you familiar with the term ‘Dragon Gate’?”
“Yeah. It’s when a fish swims up a waterfall and becomes a dragon, right?”
“Yes. It’s the same for fishfolk. When they reach Tier 7, they naturally become dragons.”
“Then your current appearance is···”
“Yes. It’s polymorph.”
Good heavens.
Rex grabbed the back of his neck.
But it wasn’t from anger or fear; he was simply so shocked that his neck had seized up.
“Ugh··· My neck···”
Ari massaged Rex’s shocked neck muscles and asked Peter a question.
“So you’re a dragon?”
“No, I’m a yong.”
Rex, Duke, and Hana knew the difference between a yong and a dragon, but since the others couldn’t tell them apart, the old man took a moment to lecture them.
“Dragons are fundamentally evil, while yong are wise. Can’t you see the difference in their eyes?”
He seemed to be instilling some strange prejudice, but it wasn’t entirely wrong, so Duke didn’t correct him.
While Peter passionately expounded on the coolness of yong, Rex continued looking through the rest of Peter’s information.
At least his skill was an ordinary one.
Skill Name <Wisdom of the Ages A+>
It wasn’t a skill that inflicted fixed damage like Ari’s, or one that made him quick-witted like Duke’s.
Instead, it let him talk to people and give them appropriate advice. It was a rather unassuming skill.
‘···That’s what you’d think.’
But Duke, who remembered the original story, had a different opinion.
‘That thing’s an enlightenment vending machine.’
Appropriate advice.
Since the skill’s description didn’t specify what “appropriate advice” meant, it seemed unassuming at first glance.
But the scariest thing about that skill was that, just by talking with the old man, anyone could advance to a higher realm.
Of course, since it was “appropriate advice,” it only worked up to Tier 2 and had no effect from Tier 3 onward. Even so, the conditions were absurdly easy to meet.
Because of this, in the original story, if Peter was sent to the new-recruit training camp, a year later every ordinary infantryman would have gone from Tier 1 to Tier 2—a truly remarkable sight.
‘That alone can change the course of a war.’
While ordinary infantry in other domains were Tier 0, soldiers in the Providence Duchy started at Tier 1.
Naturally, that went a long way toward covering Rex’s weakness of having too few superhumans, allowing him to finally fight on equal terms.
Remembering that, Duke felt jealous of Peter.
‘Tsk. I still haven’t awakened a useful skill.’
He didn’t feel any power welling up or feel any stronger, either. Honestly.
While Duke quietly envied Peter,
Rex continued looking through the other parts of Peter’s status.
‘His karma is··· as expected, on the good side. Loyalty at 99 percent and a 2 percent chance of rebellion? Oh, there’s a condition listed.’
If Rex changed his ways and became a tyrant or incompetent ruler, Peter intended to kill him and then commit ritual suicide.
For reference, an incompetent ruler here also meant a lord who abandoned his duties and ran away, so even resigning without a proper reason would count.
‘···’
Thanks to this, Rex was reminded once more that he could never retire from his position as duke.
At last, he reached the long-awaited <Disposition> section.
‘At least his disposition is normal···’
===========
[Disposition]
<Loyalty A>, <Madness B>, <Wisdom S>, <Indecisiveness (Inactive)
(This unit is currently under the strong influence of Hero Duke!)
===========
‘Fuck.’
He’d gone mad the moment he arrived.
There was no need to ask whose fault that was.
Rex pressed his fingers against his brow and closed the status window.
Wow. A Blue Dragon had become his subordinate, one who would kill him and commit suicide if he retired because he wanted to rest.
Rex was so happy he could just die.
‘Well, he does have the Wisdom disposition. He won’t do anything strange, right?’
Rex rationalized it to himself and welcomed Peter into his service.
***
Several days passed after Peter officially became a retainer of the Providence Domain.
At first, Rex had worried about Peter, but after a few days, he felt reassured.
‘That’s right. Madness doesn’t mean he’s a lunatic.’
As mentioned before, Madness meant a disposition that would stop at nothing to achieve its goals.
So there was no need to be wary of someone just because they had the Madness trait.
In a way, even a steadfast retainer willing to give his life to remain loyal fit the definition of Madness.
Thinking of it that way seemed to put Rex’s mind at ease.
A few hours later, Rex regretted that he had let down his guard so easily.
“Your Grace! There’s a riot!”
The captain of the guard burst into the office in a panic.
Rex sprang up from his desk, too.
“What? A rebellion?!”
“No, not a rebellion. It’s a riot.”
“Why?”
“Well···”
The captain of the guard hesitated, then said it would be faster to see for himself and led Rex to the window.
Before long, Rex saw a crowd of citizens holding signs and demonstrating in front of the mansion.
The problem was what the signs said.
<Lord Rex, take a wife immediately!>
<You need to hurry up and produce an heir!>
“···”
What was this?
What kind of protest was this?
Rex looked at the captain of the guard.
“But why call it a riot?”
“Look at the front of the crowd.”
Only then did Rex notice the person at the head of the demonstrators.
An old blind man stood there with three young knights, presumably his followers, behind him, shouting.
- “Your Highness Rex!! You must have SEX as soon as possible and lose your virginity! This is for the future of the duchy, and···”
Peter was prostrated on the ground and shouting like a loyal subject petitioning a king in some historical drama.
Every time Peter bowed, the knights behind him bowed as well.
“···”
Rex muttered seriously.
“Why isn’t this a dream?”
Meanwhile, behind the demonstrators, Duke was on a date with Hana, their arms linked, and looked toward the window where Rex must be.
Watching Duke, Hana asked about something she had been curious about for a while.
“My husband, I heard you were the one who approved this protest. Why would you···?”
“Elder Peter pleaded with me so desperately that I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.”
“Ah···”
Hana let out a sigh filled with many emotions.
She thought the entire protest was the fault of that senile old man.
‘That’s right. There’s no way my husband would approve of such a foolish protest.’
How much self-reproach must he have felt to let something like this pass?
Especially given the content of the protest, it must have been difficult for Duke to suppress it, too.
She cast a warm gaze toward Duke, who she assumed was feeling guilty inside.
The truth, however, was a little different.
‘This is payback for teasing me last time.’
The mastermind behind the protest smirked beneath his helmet.