Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 122
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Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 122
31. Reorganization of Power (2)
Princess Sia Rin.
She is the second princess of the Robert Kingdom on the Triton Continent the Rondel version of Asia and the woman who won the title "Pearl of the East" at the last Saintess contest.
She is a small girl of nineteen, but she is a true royal full of talent and passion, wise, and someone who knows how to care for commoners.
I don't have any romantic feelings for her, but whether it's because her Korean-like appearance reminds me of my past life, or because she resembles a singer I liked, she's someone who has lingered in my mind quite a bit.
Every time I saw Princess Sia Rin, I couldn't shake off a sense of regret.
She was the classic case of someone capable but whose surroundings didn't support her.
Compared to her country's title of "ruler of the Triton Continent," its international standing was low, making it a punching bag pushed around by everyone, and with the domestic situation where the nobles held more power than the royal family, she was clearly carrying far too much on her small shoulders.
If I could, I wanted to help her.
But since what I felt for her was nothing more than pity, I never actually extended a hand.
And so, with the contest ending in Ibril's victory, she returned to her homeland empty-handed, and after about a month, interest in her had faded.
'Princess Sia Rin fled here with serious injuries?'
But the moment the Minister of the Royal Household delivered that news, the evaluations and feelings I'd set aside came rushing back, along with a surge of displeasure.
'Who touched a pitiful girl like that?'
Forgetting that I was before the King, I strode up to the Minister of the Royal Household and asked.
"Where is the emergency teleport gate?"
The Minister of the Royal Household belatedly covered his mouth with his hand, but when I fixed him with a stare, he broke into a cold sweat.
"Mikhail."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I'll go."
Then Mikhail, who had been receiving a handover that doubled as a lesson, approached me and spoke.
"She participated in the contest, so you must be familiar with her. Shall we go together?"
"Yes, if you don't mind my presumption."
"Your Highness, but that place is strictly controlled within the Royal Palace ."
As expected, the quick-witted Mikhail scratched exactly where it itched.
But at the Minister of the Royal Household's following reaction, coldness seeped into my gaze.
"F-Forgive me."
The moment the Crown Prince proposed going together, it was as good as permission granted.
As killing intent filled the eyes of Arcia and Gregory, who guard me, he turned pale and quickly retreated.
"The emergency teleport gate is beneath the Rose Palace. Shall we go quickly?"
"Please."
The Crown Prince didn't walk down the corridor as if it were a given instead, he led me to the Minister of the Royal Household's office, located outside the great hall of the throne.
Then he pulled out a switch that looked suspicious at first glance.
There are exactly three teleport-allowed zones in the Royal Palace; everywhere else is fundamentally blocked from teleportation.
During the days when the Crown Prince and the Second Prince were fighting for royal authority, this was frequently used to evade the enemy's gaze apparently it hadn't been discarded yet.
-Zzing.
The moment I saw that switch, I began casting Teleport Magic, and the Crown Prince gave me the coordinates.
As the Crown Prince moved, Count Acres now the Knight Captain of the Second Royal Guard and his men naturally followed, so I had to move more people than expected.
"Teleport."
Teleport activated, and in an instant, the scenery around us changed.
"Move aside."
There, I found Princess Sia Rin receiving treatment from the mages managing the teleport gate.
She was in a state of severe injury where ordinary Heal could only prolong her life.
There wasn't a limb that wasn't broken, and a long piece of metal unknown shrapnel had pierced through her abdomen.
Honestly, it was a miracle she wasn't dead.
The mages immediately stepped back the moment they saw me.
"Princess, what on earth happened?"
I looked down at her with a calm, sinking gaze and began my treatment.
I looked down at her with a deeply settled gaze and began to take action.
First, I lightly decomposed the metal piercing her abdomen into powder and took measures to prevent it from flowing inside.
-Whoosh!
Next, I used the Recovery spell.
Then, the torn organs and broken bones returned to their proper places.
'Not enough.'
But I had to bite my lip.
Recovery is a healing spell, not a revival spell.
Her injuries were not something Recovery could treat.
"Duke Lawrence...."
"Princess, are you coming to your senses?"
But even though she wasn't fully healed, Princess Sia Rin awoke and called out to me.
"Help... me...."
No, she wasn't awake.
Her hazy eyes remained completely motionless.
Princess Sia Rin's words were reflexive no different from sleep-talking.
But the moment my name slipped from her lips, I felt a thread of reason snap.
-Bzzzz.
I immediately lifted her into my arms and recited the teleportation spell again.
"I'll take her with me."
It was a notification, not a request.
Even so, the Crown Prince nodded as if he understood.
"I see now she was the Duke's guest. Understood. Do as you wish."
"Thank you."
Was it because he didn't want to confront me, so he reluctantly accepted despite his displeasure?
Or was it because he judged that I was the only one who could treat her?
Despite my rudeness, the Crown Prince simply told me to go ahead.
"Hold on just a little longer."
The moment he answered, the teleportation spell completed, and I immediately moved to the secret space of the Duchy, taking only Princess Sia Rin, Arcia, and Gregory with me.
* * *
A vast, sealed-off space on all sides that could only be entered via teleportation.
As soon as I arrived, I used the 8th Circle spell I had been saving.
"Revive!"
If 7th Circle has Recovery and 9th Circle has Resurrection, then the 8th Circle in between has the Revive spell.
If the 7th Circle treats illness and injury, then the 8th Circle's Revive is a regeneration spell.
It perfectly restores even lost body parts.
The Princess's organs were currently beyond what Recovery could fix, so a regeneration spell was needed.
-Whoosh!
Light and energy beyond comparison to Recovery settled into Princess Sia Rin.
Revive, with effects rivaling an elixir, healed the Princess at a rapid pace.
"Hoo."
As the light subsided, I let out a sigh of relief seeing her restored to a complete state.
The Princess looked so pitiful that I nearly used Revive in front of the Crown Prince without thinking.
But the last sliver of reason changed the Revive spell into a teleportation spell, allowing me to heal her without revealing my level.
'I still need preparation before revealing that I've reached the 8th Circle.'
If I said I became a 7th Circle at 20 and an 8th Circle at 21, no one would believe me.
The 7th and 8th Circles are only one step apart, but the gap between them is enormous.
Naturally, many would also link it to Grand Duke Lucas.
It would be safer to reveal that Arcia, a swordsman rather than a mage like me, became a Grand Master.
"What, what? What's going on?"
At that moment, from afar, Bug who had modified her maid uniform to her own liking came flying in on a Hoverboard, accompanied by two Knights.
"An outsider? Are you crazy? You lecture me every day to be careful, and then you do this!"
Seeing her nagging as if she'd been proven right, I signaled to the Knight behind Bug.
-Thunk!
"Gah!"
The Knight immediately threw a body blow into Bug's side.
"Sorry, but with that face of yours nagging like that, I just wanted to punch you."
"Ghk! You bastard...."
The Knights who followed her were Master-class autonomous Vanguards obtained by clearing stage 8 of this Opportunity Quest.
In simple terms, they were Vanguard robots with Master-level combat power.
And this space, where those two and Bug were, was also the quest reward the underground stronghold Hecate.
[Underground Stronghold Hecate]
-A closed-type underground base inaccessible to unauthorized personnel
-Capable of autonomous teleportation
-Unaffected by surrounding environments such as underwater, underground, or lava zones
-Coordinate trace interference function
-Sky Fortress repair function
-Area 3㎢, height 200m
I asked Bug, who was grumbling as she picked herself up.
"Done with your homework?"
"Well, more or less."
"Those two are basically your subordinates, so teach them well."
"Subordinates? Haha! Got it!"
The homework I mentioned was upgrading the artificial intelligence of the two autonomous Vanguards.
Honestly, calling it an upgrade was a stretch it was just simple labor of teaching various things through the learning function.
I was uneasy about entrusting such a task to that erratic creature, but Bug had good synergy with AI, and if things went wrong I could just reset it, so I gave the job a trial run.
Surprisingly, the work went well, and I started thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea to form a unit centered around Bug.
Born in a virtual world, Bug was essentially a hacker of the Heaven Realm in her own right, and no matter how foolishly she acted, she displayed the best information-gathering ability in the online world next to Chester.
Using her as an operator with autonomous Vanguards under her command seemed like it would be quite useful.
"Huh? Leaving already?"
"Yeah."
I had come here while searching for a place to casually unleash 8th Circle magic, but if Princess Sia Rin found out my secret, it would only make things more dangerous.
As I picked up the princess and rose from my seat, Bug showed a disappointed reaction.
"Here."
I tossed a ring to Bug as I spoke.
"What? A proposal?"
"Shut up."
I held back the fist that nearly flew out and explained the ring's function.
"It's a teleport ring linked to the Lord's estate. If you need anything, go to the Lord's estate and help yourself."
"Ooh! I thought I was imprisoned!"
"That's because you keep doing stupid things."
At that, she cheered with a delighted expression.
I let out a hollow laugh at Bug's antics.
"Mm."
But my expression hardened at the sight of Princess Sia Rin tossing and turning as if having a nightmare, and I quickly headed to the Lord's estate.
* * *
'Father! Mother!'
In the deep, deep darkness.
Princess Sia Rin screamed as she watched her parents being sucked into a swamp of flesh and blood.
But her scream only lingered in her throat without ever escaping her lips, and her body would not move freely as if bound.
Princess Sia Rin thrashed and reached out her arms to save her parents, but the two of them pushed her away as if rejecting her.
[Live on.]
With those final words, her parents vanished completely, and she fell into despair.
'My... princess... Princess...'
But then.
A single ray of light descended along with a warm voice, as if comforting her.
As Princess Sia Rin blankly looked up at the light, the darkness and swamp of blood surrounding her vanished in an instant, revealing a pure white space.
"What a relief. You've regained consciousness."
Curtains fluttering in a breeze carrying the scent of grass.
Sunlight seeping through those curtains.
A silver-haired youth, shining in that sunlight, looked down at her with relief.
"Duke Lawrence."
"Yes, Princess."
"Huh? Duke Lawrence?"
"Yes?"
Was it because she had just woken up?
Her hazy mind returned, and she suddenly sat up.
Only then could Princess Sia Rin survey her surroundings, realizing this place was not on the Triton Continent but a building of a different culture.
"Wh-Where is this?"
"A guest room in my Lord's estate."
"If it's Your Grace's estate... then this is the Kingdom of Rhinehearts!?"
"Yes, that's right."
Seeing that she seemed confused, Adrian informed her that she had entered through the Kingdom of Rhinehearts' emergency teleport gate.
"Why am I here? I was supposed to seek help from the Prius Republic..."
But she couldn't finish her sentence.
As I said, the princess had intended to ask for help from the Prius Republic, which supported the royal family of the Robert Kingdom.
But just before losing consciousness, she had chosen the Kingdom of Rhinehearts instead of the Prius Republic as her target for help.
Unable to accept her own choice, the princess searched for a reason, then noticed Adrian staring at her and blushed.
'Surely not personal feelings rather than political judgment? What a disgraceful display.'
As the princess hit her head in self-reproach, Adrian grabbed her wrist and spoke.
"I personally conducted an investigation into what happened."
"Yes..."
She wished she could crawl into a hole and hide.
Other than the fact that she and Adrian had been rivals in the Saintess contest, there was no real connection between them.
From his perspective, she was a complete stranger nothing more, nothing less.
No, she was more of a burden than a stranger.
A burden that only caused him political trouble.
But what Adrian said next was completely unexpected.
"Let me help you find your kingdom."
"What?"