Chapter 230
The hidden passage Ruby found stretched underground. It was narrow, but fortunately it was reasonably tall, so even Eiji, a giant of a man, could come along. Cal was too large to enter, so he had to wait outside. He seemed tired from the battle earlier and was sleeping with Sei's familiars, so I didn't think he was lonely.
The hidden passage was longer than I had expected, and we had to descend quite a way. I did have 【Night Vision】, but I equipped a lantern that hung from my waist as well. Even I thought I was being overly timid, but it was important to prepare for the unexpected.
"Is this the door? Ruby, can you handle it?"
At the end of the passage stood an undecorated metal door. It had a large keyhole, and we probably wouldn't be able to enter without opening it.
And when it came to picking locks, that meant a thief—in other words, it was Ruby's turn. Her Job build was focused on combat, being centered around Assassin-type Jobs, but she was good at forcing locks open. The reason was...
"Hmm... Oh! It came loose! It was already pretty flimsy, so that was easy!"
By putting her Slime body into the keyhole and reshaping it, she could create a key that fit perfectly. Even if her Skill level and Job modifiers were low, anyone could open a lock as long as they had a key.
Apparently, a scene in a period drama where a thief poured wax into a keyhole to make an impression had given Genzuro the idea, and he had told Ruby about it as a reference. It never hurt to try something. She was also good at infiltrating through narrow gaps and from underwater, so escaping her clutches when she seriously intended to assassinate someone was extremely difficult.
"Well then, let's do it."
"Let's go! Ready, set—heave!"
Once the lock was open, we had to open the door itself. Opening the heavy, rusted metal door was incredibly difficult, and it only budged after we strengthened everyone's muscles with 【Enchantment】.
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Izamu discovered the hidden area 'Treasury of the Hidden City.'
You receive 30 SP as a discovery reward.
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"Woohoo!"
"This is... amazing!"
Beyond the door, which opened with the unpleasant sound of rust scraping against rust, lay a mountain of gold, silver, and other treasures. The treasure lived up to our expectations, and we couldn't help cheering. The discovery reward was extremely valuable too, but the treasure right in front of us took priority for now!
There were gold bars, which were traded as valuable items even in the game, along with countless magnificent works of art. They were all impractical items, but their value as works of art was immeasurable. We could make a fortune by selling them to collectors.
There were also many powerful items that made us grin as we picked them up, such as the potions Shiitake was staring at intently and the treasured sword Genzuro was lightly swinging. Considering the time it had taken to clear the mist-shrouded 'Ashfall Hills,' we had been at it for quite a while. It was always satisfying to receive rewards worthy of the effort.
"Hmm, which one should I look at first...? Oh? What is this box?"
I decided to browse around as well, but there were so many things that I couldn't decide what to look at first. Then a wooden box on a shelf displaying treasures of all sizes caught my attention.
Every treasure arranged on the shelves had been displayed at an angle that made it look beautiful. The room looked like a museum or a jewelry store, but this box had been placed inconspicuously behind another treasure so that it wouldn't stand out. I noticed it only by chance, and I would have missed it if I had been engrossed in the treasures.
The box looked plain at first glance, but its carvings were incredibly intricate and beautiful. Birds flew around the crest in the center of the lid as though blessing it, while vines bearing tiny flowers had been carved into the sides. It wasn't flashy, but I got the impression that something important must be inside. I decided to open it.
"A jade seal... No way, is this the Imperial Seal!? It really exists..."
The box did indeed contain an Imperial Seal. It was a beautiful, fist-sized seal of the deep, translucent green characteristic of jade. The handle was shaped like a bird about to take flight, and the same crest as the one on the lid had been carved into it.
I honestly had never expected one to really exist, so I was deeply moved. Though it was only an item in a game, my fingers trembled slightly at holding something that looked like it belonged in a history textbook. I cautiously picked up the Imperial Seal and decided to use 【Appraisal】 on it.
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Imperial Seal of the Fallen Nation — Quality: Divine; Rarity: G (Divine)
One of the venerable proofs of kingship passed down by a nation that has now perished.
An Imperial Seal is created by a god, and therefore becomes a symbol of authority.
Without it, a king cannot call himself a king, and the Imperial Seal is always searching for a king.
What meaning can an Imperial Seal have when it has no master of its own?
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So it really was an Imperial Seal. The phrase 'Fallen Nation' indicated that the country that had possessed it had already perished. It must have been the Imperial Seal of the Septem Duchy. Its Quality and Rarity were the highest possible, but that made sense if, as the description said, it was an item created by a god.
Whether it was something we players actually needed was another matter, but there was no doubt that it was an extremely rare item. It might prove useful for something, so I should preserve it carefully...
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You acquired the Title 'One Qualified to Be King.'
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"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
"Hmm?"
"Oh?"
At the same time that I acquired a new Title, everyone else suddenly jerked to a stop. They must have acquired Titles as well. Before their confusion grew any worse, I had to explain what had happened.
"Everyone, first tell me what happened."
"What happened? Well, a Title called 'Friend of the Qualified One' suddenly appeared for me."
"Me too!"
"It seems to be the same for everyone. And the qualified one must be you, Izamu."
"That's the only possibility, right?"
...I wondered what everyone thought of me now. I was a little worried, but I couldn't argue with the facts. For now, I would tell them what I knew.
"That's more or less correct. There was an Imperial Seal inside this box, and the moment I held it, I acquired the Title 'One Qualified to Be King.'"
"Being qualified to be king means becoming a king?"
"Who knows? Perhaps I could become one if I wanted to. I don't know the first thing about running a country, though..."
Even if I were called a king, I had no idea what I was supposed to do. No matter how I looked at it, I was still an ordinary person, so bewilderment outweighed everything else. What exactly was I supposed to do?
To begin with, calling myself king with a group of only a little over twenty people, familiars included, would be ridiculous. We didn't even have anyone who could be called a citizen, and unless I were a leader acknowledged by both myself and everyone else, I would just be some strange person.
"The Title is important and all, but regardless, why don't we log out for today? I'm exhausted."
"I agree... Huh? Wait, what the heck is going on here!?"
When the subject of logging out came up, Shichiko let out a startled cry. I could tell from his movements that he had been operating the menu screen, so I opened mine as well. For some reason, the place we were in was classified as 'Within Base'!
Huh? Why? When did this palace become our property? Was it a bug? No, calm down. I should check the logs. There had to be a point at which we acquired ownership... Here it is!
"...It seems to be a special reward for defeating the boss. The entire area of this 'Misty Weeping Princess's Hidden City' has apparently become the property of a clan like Shiratsuki's."
"I've confirmed it on this side too. That's quite a lavish reward!"
"We're landowners! Yay!"
"Not landowners—we're kings."
"Oh, right!"
Shishu and Wool were having a pleasant little conversation, but I wasn't sure whether this was something to celebrate. Taking control of an entire city sounded impressive, but this city no longer functioned as a city. Hostile monsters might even be wandering around the palace.
Still, it was a stroke of luck to obtain land where we didn't need to concern ourselves with anyone else. The place was empty to begin with, and before we could use it as a base, we had to thoroughly exterminate the monsters and check every unexplored area. Conversely, that meant we could plan almost everything from scratch. We would have to remodel the place extensively.
"We'll decide what to do from here later. Let's disband for today. Too much has happened, and I want to sort out my thoughts first."
"Let's do that."
And so, the clearing of the 'Misty Weeping Princess's Hidden City' and our unplanned plundering came to an end. We had plenty to do, including calling Shiratsuki, reporting to Muno-dono and the others, and investigating the city.
On top of that, I wanted to establish relations with other Races... At this rate, it was becoming doubtful whether we would even make it to the event. Still, I decided to treat it as something we would attend if we could.
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"Whoa, they actually won!"
"Oh my, how amazing."
"Amazing!"
"It happened just as Iifa said."
The Great Gods (Admin AIs), who had watched over the battle between me, the 'Goddess of Death and Chaos,' and Izamu-sama's party, were extremely surprised by their victory. As Great Gods (Admin AIs), they had adjusted the specifications of the monster serving as the boss, but they had set the difficulty of the 'Misty Weeping Princess's Hidden City' fairly high.
If there had been only one party, a full level-100 party would have been required. With a party the same size as Izamu-sama's, they would have needed to be at least level 85. Even then, under normal circumstances, half the party would have died and returned. That was how difficult it was.
"I told you, didn't I? I said they would manage it."
Since they were challenging a high-difficulty field at a low level, the others had expected them to be wiped out. I was certain that group possessed enough strength to overturn that prediction, however.
"They were lucky too, of course. Normally, Claude would have been defeated first."
A knight who wore down his own body to protect the princess. It was certainly a moving tale, but in a battle where life and death were at stake, he was simply dead weight. Since he desperately protected her even at the cost of his own life, someone with resistance to status ailments, such as Izamu-sama, could chip away at Catherine, make her expend her resources, and defeat Claude first.
However, in that case, the second half of the battle would become hell. Catherine, who had appeared embracing Claude from behind while Izamu-sama's party was fighting them—that was the effect of 【Not Even Death Can Separate the Two】. It was an ability exclusive to those two, in which the one who died first became an invincible spirit and supported the one left behind.
After losing Claude and going berserk, Catherine would spread the strengthened 【Undead Queen's Cursed Realm】 across the entire battlefield. The party would then have to face both her and Claude, who could not be hit and swung his sword and halberd to protect her. Without knowing the mechanics, they would be forced into a battle that would easily wipe out the entire party.
The durability of Catherine's physical body was poor compared with Claude's, so there was a chance of winning if one could endure the status ailments and slip past his onslaught. Whether anyone could actually do that against an invincible level-100 royal guard captain was another matter.
"...It looks like they obtained the Imperial Seal."
"So the first player king has been born. Did you calculate that far ahead?"
"No, not that far. The right to establish a kingdom was earned through Izamu-sama's party's efforts."
The condition for becoming a king is to collect at least three proofs of kingship. However, items of the same type do not count. Accomplishing this requires overcoming all kinds of adventures. Some other players have obtained two, but Izamu-sama's party appears to be the first to collect three different types.
A player may establish a nation, welcome NPCs and other players as citizens, and work to build a rich and powerful country. As a result, they may come into conflict with existing nations, and in some cases, that conflict could develop into war. But that is precisely the chaos I seek. I look forward to it, all of you in 'Nightwalker'?