The Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality, Chapter 198
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The Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality, Chapter 198
46. We're on the Same Side, Right? (2)
It's truly amazing how parents can recognize their children no matter how their appearance changes.
My parents were exactly like that.
Even when a silver-haired white man showed up out of nowhere and claimed to be their dead son, they accepted it easily after just a few conversations.
Of course, their reactions during that process were polar opposites.
Unlike my mother, who wept with joy, my father fainted on the spot.
But seeing how quickly the two of them recognized their child, I thought that parents really are something incredible.
The first meeting was so sudden that we couldn't even have a proper conversation, but I visited three more times after that.
Thanks to that, they now have a rough idea of my situation.
I told them that the world I was reborn into is one where magic and miracles exist, and that I've started a family with a beautiful wife there and we're living well together.
I didn't bring up the complicated stories about being a king who runs a nation or an envoy who has crossed many battlefields and taken countless lives, but they do know that I'm a famous Mage and a rich man running a global corporation.
"So that thing is from the world you came from?"
"Yes, it's Rondel's main combat vessel. We call it the Heaven-Piercing Fortress."
My parents thought of the world I live in as a fantasy realm that might appear in a fairy tale.
So seeing the majesty of the Heaven-Piercing Fortress in the video left them speechless.
The world they'd imagined and the weapon of destruction before their eyes simply didn't match up.
"Wait. Does that mean that island right now came over from the other world you live in?"
"It seems that way. Looks like a noble family's territory drifted over."
"A noble family's territory?"
"Adrian, there's a crest over there."
At that moment, Blake, who had been poking his head in from the side while carefully holding a can of cola my mother had handed him, pointed at a corner of the screen.
I immediately searched the device's database for a matching crest.
"It's the crest of the Reiers Count family of the Walter Kingdom."
The holographic window projecting from the bracelet-type device gave off a more sci-fi than magical vibe.
Thanks to that, my father in his forties kept marveling with sparkling eyes.
A stark contrast to my own utter seriousness.
It seemed the situation in the video felt like a story from a faraway land to him.
"So it's not just a simple fantasy world. UFOs and holographic devices it's like watching a sci-fi movie."
I laughed awkwardly and thought I should bring a dedicated device for my parents next time.
Replacing the communication function with telepathy and changing the language to Korean didn't seem difficult.
"That island what do you plan to do about it?"
I couldn't answer Blake's question right away.
Because I couldn't decide whether to attempt contact with Reiers County.
For the people of Reiers County, the current situation must be nothing short of a disaster.
They'd been dropped into an unknown world out of nowhere, and on top of that, they'd even fought a battle with China, which is famous on Earth for being impossible to communicate with.
Moreover, there's currently no way for them to return to Rondel.
On the other hand, we can travel between Earth and Rondel, so we could be a great help to them, but the problem is that a situation would arise where their suspicions about our identity would be inevitable.
'Well, unless they return to Rondel, that wouldn't matter, would it?'
I asked Blake.
"Is this also the work of the goddess Sepia, as the Master said?"
"Probably, isn't it? It's definitely not a natural phenomenon. If what Manuel said is true, then this is part of an experiment the goddess is conducting."
I took a bite of the apple my mother brought out and fell into thought.
"By the way, who is this young lady? I haven't seen her before."
At that moment, my mother asked Arcia.
My mother was looking at Selin, the new member added to the usual visiting party.
Selin, checking mine and Blake's reactions, couldn't easily speak, so Arcia explained instead.
"She's a demon's lackey."
"What does that mean? Ah, ohoho! What a silly joke."
My mother tilted her head for a moment, then took Arcia's remark as a joke.
Watching that peaceful scene, I finally came to a decision regarding Reiers County.
"I need to meet the Count of Reiers."
"Because you can't just leave it alone?"
"That's part of it, but Rondel now has a foothold on Earth, doesn't it? I think it could be surprisingly useful."
"That's true. A Count's estate in the Walter Kingdom would have just about every major industrial facility."
At mine and Blake's conversation, my Father and Mother, who had been keeping the mood bright until then, darkened their expressions.
Our conversation was marking the end of an already short reunion, after all.
Moreover, the fact that I was heading to a place that looked dangerous, with missiles flying around, made it impossible not to worry.
"Are you going there?"
"It looks like I have to."
"Isn't it dangerous?"
"Haha, it's fine. With the current members, we have enough power to win even if a hundred Heaven-Piercing Fortresses came at us. Don't worry."
My words must have seemed like bravado, as my parents let out hollow laughs and then deeply sighed.
"Our son, you seem to be taking on far more than your mother and father ever imagined. Please, be careful."
"Yes!"
And as the two of them nodded for me to go, I smiled and pulled out a gift I had brought from subspace.
"Right, before I go, I have something to give you."
What came out of subspace was a suitcase.
That suitcase was a kind of oxygen capsule, and when opened, it contained a space that expanded to about twenty pyeong in size.
A mobile shelter, so to speak.
"It's a shelter. It's something that unauthorized people can neither enter nor move. It's sturdy enough to withstand hundreds of missiles exploding, so if anything happens, get inside. It's fully stocked with daily necessities, food, and drinking water just bring yourselves in."
"Th-That's amazing."
My parents unconsciously approached the suitcase, and since I had already registered them as users, a message window asking if they wanted to enter the shelter appeared before their eyes.
I told my nervous Father to try going in once.
Soon, Father swallowed dryly, touched the air, and vanished into the suitcase as if pulled in.
And Father returned before ten seconds had passed.
"It's really nice in there!"
"These days, you never know what might happen, so I think it'd be best for you to sleep inside it at night as usual. I've made it so you can see and hear what's going on outside, so you won't feel inconvenienced."
"Thank you for being so thoughtful in so many ways."
"It's only natural to ensure my parents' safety."
Father and Mother kept letting out exclamations of admiration, but that didn't last long.
As I and my party headed to my room, which we use as a Teleport Magic room, they saw us off with very awkward expressions.
"I'll come back by here on the way. That way you won't worry."
"We'd appreciate that."
And so, estimating the rough coordinates of Reiers County, I used Teleport Magic.
* * *
After a bout with China's Chairman and returning to the Lord's estate, the Count of Reiers clutched his forehead at his son's report.
"I'm sorry. I should have held back."
But the Count shook his head at his son's plea for forgiveness.
"No. Your actions were only natural. It's just that the opponent was a bad one."
"What will the Chairman do?"
"If he's someone with a working mind and a lot of fear, he'll request to resume negotiations. If he's just stupid or needlessly arrogant, he'll try to fight for pride's sake."
Even if they fought, he wasn't afraid.
Compared to Earth's military hardware, Rondel's weaponry had favorable matchups in many ways, and since Earthlings were ignorant of magic, there were plenty of angles to exploit.
Mental-series magic in particular seemed useful in many ways.
"But we can't underestimate them. The country called China that we're clashing with is divided into four states, but it seems to be fairly strong in this world called Earth."
"Are we gathering intelligence on them?"
"Lord Hau-ren caught a few locals earlier. We're currently getting information about this world through them."
"That's a sound judgment."
"But the locals said something rather interesting. There's a weapon called a nuclear bomb on Earth, and just one of them could blow away an entire city or a country."
"What? Is that true?"
If such a weapon existed, even a Heaven-Piercing Fortress might not be able to withstand it, right?
The young lord, who had been subtly dismissing the Earthlings after an easy victory in his first battle, had to wear a startled expression.
"But apparently, it hasn't been used in actual combat for the past several decades."
"Why is that?"
"Partly because its destructive power is so great that everyone is reluctant to use it, but it seems that when that weapon is used, a powerful poison that doesn't easily neutralize spreads and turns the entire area into a hellscape."
"So it's a double-edged sword."
"Correct. But if we're facing an unidentified enemy like ourselves, there's no law saying they won't pull out that weapon."
Only then did the young lord understand why his father had reacted so strongly to the news of the failed negotiations.
"The one saving grace is that nuclear weapons are generally used in the form of missiles."
"Then we just need to intercept all incoming missiles."
"Right. And since most missiles are impact-detonation types, rather than struggling to knock them down with Force, we've decided to respond by using a 2nd Circle shield to place walls in their flight paths."
"That's to prevent Mana consumption, isn't it?"
"Yes, because there's so little Mana in the atmosphere in this world. We have to conserve Mana."
Mana in the atmosphere is the source of all supernatural power.
A Knight's Aura, a Mage's Mana, a Spirit Master's Spirit Power, and a priest's Divine power were all methods of converting Mana according to each one's circumstances and accumulating it within the body.
But Earth's Mana is more diluted than Rondel's.
Only about one-tenth the level.
This meant that recharging spent energy would take ten times as long.
Because of this, Reiers County had entered a power-saving mode to minimize Mana consumption.
The teleportation interference formation that consumed large amounts of Mana was turned off, and the Heaven-Piercing Fortress's stealth and Mana-detection functions were also deactivated.
In Rondel, this would be inviting infiltration by skilled Assassins or Mages, but on Earth, where no supernatural powers existed, there was no need to worry.
"It'd be nice if we had a Mana accumulation formation."
"We can't help it. Who could have predicted something like this would happen?"
The power to move Mana, which is nature itself, as one wishes is the authority of the 8th Circle.
Even though the Mana accumulation formation is highly effective in various areas, including training, the reason it's rarely seen is its absurd installation cost.
-Pop!
But that was when it happened.
"W-What?"
A blue Mana reaction suddenly appeared before the Count of Reiers and his son.
Startled, the two hurriedly stepped back.
"My lord!"
Immediately after, the Knights guarding outside the door sensed the abnormal Mana and rushed into the office.
"Teleport Magic?"
It was a sign of Teleport Magic.
A kind of signal telling the other party to step back because Teleport Magic was about to be used on them.
Everyone tensed up at the unexpected situation, and soon after, a group of people appeared along with the light.
"Uh?"
"Uh?"
The Knights glaring with fierce eyes, and the Lord and young lord swallowing dryly, all showed the same reaction.
Their expressions seemed to embody the words, 'Why is big brother coming out of there?'
"G-Grand Duke Lawrence?"
A very handsome young man with silver hair and blue eyes.
A celebrity no one from Rondel could fail to recognize Adrian El Lawrence, the Grand Duke, had appeared.
"The Mana accumulation formation you wished for I'll draw it for you."
As if he had heard everything, Adrian stepped forward toward the Count of Reiers and said that.
But the Count of Reiers and the young lord, unable to easily understand what was happening, wore blank expressions.
Both the fact that Adrian, known to be a 7th Circle, would draw an 8th Circle-level Mana accumulation formation, and how he, who should be in Rondel, had appeared here, were full of questions.
"S-Surely. Is our domain's arrival in this world related to Your Highness the King?"
Thus, the Count of Reiers's question was only natural.
But Adrian, as if to cut off such misunderstanding at the source, placed his right hand on the center of his chest and spoke.
"I swear before Mana. I, Adrian El Lawrence, have done nothing regarding the calamity that befell Reiers County, and our meeting is nothing more than coincidence. If there is any falsehood in these words, I shall accept Mana's curse."
That was what was commonly called the Oath of Mana.
A Mage placing restrictions on their own actions through a contract.
Depending on how it was used, it could also serve to reveal the truth like this.
Thanks to that, the Count of Reiers learned of Adrian's innocence, yet he still tilted his head as if the mystery remained unsolved.
"Did Your Highness the King also get caught up in the accident and end up crossing over to this world?"
"No, that's not it."
"Then how?"
Under the gazes of the Count of Reiers and his men, Adrian hesitated for a moment, but soon seemed to make up his mind and continued speaking.
"Though it's limited in time, we can come and go between Rondel and this world called Earth of our own will."
"What do you mean? Ah, so that means we can go back too!?"
As if spotting a hand reaching out from a swamp of despair, the Count of Reiers's expression brightened.
But it took only a single second for his spirits to plummet.
"Unfortunately, no."
"..."
"We crossed over here using a ruin from the Mythic Era discovered in the Dragonlands. And only those who crossed into this world through that ruin can return to Rondel."
A rapid exchange of words in a short span of time.
The Count of Reiers narrowed his eyes and looked at the other man with suspicion, as if to say this was utter nonsense, but Adrian had already proven his innocence through the Oath of Mana.
"Haah.... Let's sit down first."
And so, though he didn't fully understand, the Count let out a sigh and offered Adrian a seat in his office.
Watching him, Adrian could tell that the Count of Reiers was a rational man who, despite being thrown into confusion, wasn't swayed by emotion.
"Then does Your Highness the King know what has happened to us?"
"I have a general idea."
If you know the cause, the solution becomes visible.
But at Adrian's following words, the Count of Reiers's expression hardened.
"This world called Earth is currently in a peculiar situation."
"What do you mean?"
"The Creator has reached the end of their lifespan and vanished. And the goddess Sepia has taken an interest in the void left behind."
"What?"
"To put it simply, you are a scouting unit of the invasion force sent by the goddess Sepia. A scouting unit meant to test what kind of influence Rondel's interference has on this world."
At the sudden mention of the goddess, the Count of Reiers was left speechless.
Who could possibly accept being called a vanguard of the goddess out of nowhere?
"I know it sounds like nonsense. I can't be certain my theory is one hundred percent correct either. But that's the conclusion I've reached based on the information gathered so far."
"W-Wait a moment."
The Count of Reiers rubbed his temples with an expression that said he couldn't keep up.
Naturally.
The goddess wasn't that the story of a being far too distant?
But the greatest question was the existence of Adrian before his very eyes.
Because if what he said was true, it wasn't a scenario a mere human could grasp.
"How do you know such things, Your Highness the King? No, before that no matter how much it's because of a ruin, I find the idea of traveling between worlds a bit..."
At that, Adrian revealed information that would convince everyone.
"This world is the homeland of the great Grand Mage Manuel Lucas, who led Rondel's age of sorcery into its golden era. And I am his disciple who inherited his legacy... that is, a successor who obtained his Opportunity."
The first time Adrian revealed his identity to someone unrelated to his circle.
The Count of Reiers and all the men under his command stared back with wide eyes at his story.