Chapter 34: Bipolar (3)
< 34 : Bipolar (3) >
The reception room where Shuron left after the conversation.
Eutenia, who was watching Roan’s actions there, asked him.
“Did you know the count’s family?”
He was tidying up the table that had been messed up after Shuron left.
The believers who had been waiting to pressure Shuron also left, and only the archbishop and the apostles remained in the reception room.
Was it because of the story that Roan had told to Sangdanju?
Eutenia asked if Roan’s words that he knew the count’s family were true.
He smiled warmly at Eutenia and answered.
“Of course not.”
“Then it was a lie.”
“It wasn’t a complete lie. This is an act of selling the future. Eventually, the count’s family will be under the influence of the church.”
Roan’s story to Shuron was a lie.
Nevertheless, Roan confidently declared to Eutenia.
He said that the entire count’s family that ruled the city would eventually be under the influence of the church.
That was the goal of the plan that Roan would execute in the future.
Evan, who had been listening quietly, also seemed curious about Roan’s plan and asked him.
“What are you thinking, archbishop?”
“You’ll understand quickly if you know the current situation of the city.”
“The situation of the city?”
“The count who rules the city has two sons.”
“Two sons…”
Roan had been investigating the power relations in the Centrius region to expand his church.
That was also true for the city he was going to visit this time.
The trade city Lituas-Centrius was one of the territories belonging to the Meyer count’s family.
It was also one of the most important places among the territories belonging to the Meyer count’s family.
The Meyer count’s family, who ruled this huge city, had been suffering from a long-standing succession problem.
It was because of their two sons under the count.
“One is Lex Meyer, the eldest son. He is the son of the former countess who passed away.”
“Then the other one is…”
“The other one is Max Meyer. He is the son of the current countess. And the countess and her relatives want to support Max as the next count.”
“Is the eldest son’s power weaker?”
“That’s the situation. If things go on like this, Max Meyer will have a high chance of becoming the next Meyer count.”
The eldest son who was competing with his half-brother for power.
Moreover, his brother had a very strong power from his relatives who supported him.
In this situation, it was not difficult for Roan and his church to intervene.
At least that’s what Roan thought.
Evan seemed to understand Roan’s thoughts to some extent.
He nodded his head and agreed with his plan.
“So you’re going to side with the eldest son.”
“Of course. It would be easier to benefit from going to the eldest son who has weaker power than the second son.”
“You’re sure you’ll benefit from it.”
“What do I have to be afraid of? The great one is watching over us.”
Roan would never have tried this plan if he was alone.
But now he had some members of his church, as well as two apostles who helped him.
With this power, it wasn’t bad to try something risky.
Besides, he calculated that it wouldn’t be hard to escape if something went wrong.
It was a conclusion based on his observation of their strength for a long time.
“That’s a great attitude. Then what can I do to help you?”
“You just need to stay with Lex Meyer for a while.”
“Stay at his house?”
Evan asked back with a puzzled face at Roan’s words that he should stay at his house.
It was a surprising story if he didn’t know the process.
But Roan was full of confidence now.
One of his actions as a black mage was to manipulate people.
If he had a stage, he thought it wouldn’t be hard to persuade a nobleman who didn’t know much about the world.
Especially if he had plausible actors who could match his play.
“It’s not like you’re not looking like a knight among us. You’re the only one who can be assigned as a guard.”
“…I see. Then I have no choice.”
“Do I have a role too?”
This time it was Eutenia’s turn with a book in her arms.
Of course, there were tasks waiting for her as well.
She was an amazing magician who could use various magic, including barriers created by applying barrier magic.
The reason why she tested the barrier against Shuron was also for the big things that would follow.
“There is something you have to do, first apostle.”
“What is it?”
“Can you act like a noble lady?”
“…?”
Eutenia tilted her head at Roan’s words.
It was a reaction that she couldn’t understand.
Roan expected that reaction as well.
Well, the suggestion he was about to make was so shocking.
Roan spoke to Eutenia with a friendly face.
“I think you’ll have to become a noble lady.”
*****
Time passed again and the weekend came.
I was drinking beer alone last night, and now I’m eating ramen for breakfast and watching TV.
The news was coming out of the TV that I turned on.
It was a corner that reported news from overseas.
-“Currently, large-scale riots are occurring in Africa and other places…”
Africa.
Canada.
USA.
France.
News from various countries in the world came out through the anchor’s mouth.
As I listened to the news from abroad, I had a lot of thoughts.
It felt like a completely different world when I remembered that it was on the other side of the earth.
I finished eating all the ramen and I wasn’t interested in the news anymore.
It was a rare weekend, so I wondered if I should go out, but when I saw the hot weather, I didn’t want to go out.
On a day like this, it was best to stay at home and play games with the air conditioner on.
Thud.
I put down my chopsticks and picked up my smartphone and ran the game.
“Come to think of it, something came into my account.”
I applied for so many things that I don’t remember well, but I think something came into my account.
Maybe the most likely possibility was that it was the tax refund I had applied for a few months ago.
I remembered that the expected amount was similar to the money that had been deposited into my account.
Since I didn’t have any urgent expenses, I wondered if I should spend some of it on the game when I had some spare time.
I thought about using the gacha to get some matching outfits for my followers, and before I knew it, the loading was complete and the game screen appeared.
The game looked even more vivid than yesterday.
The graphics had changed along with my level.
-The number of your cult’s followers has increased significantly.
-Some of your followers have acquired the <Fanatic> trait.
-Your karma has increased by 11 points.
The first message that caught my eye was that the number of my cult’s followers had increased and my karma had gone up.
It seemed that Roan had been busy while I was away.
One well-trained character was worth ten mediocre ones.
He was more competent than I had imagined.
-You have reached level 7.
-<Eye of the Observer (Lv.6)> has grown.
-<Eye of the Observer (Lv.7)> has been achieved. You can observe the continent with a clearer vision than before.
In addition to these minor updates, my level had also increased by one.
As my level went up, so did my total amount of magic and the level of my <Eye of the Observer> skill.
That was why the graphics had become sharper, because my level had gone up by one.
Now, the characters on the screen looked more proportional.
There was still a casual vibe to the game, but not as much as before.
“Another warning came up.”
Of course, not everything was positive when my level increased.
Just like when I had leveled up before, <Karma’s Judgment> displayed a new message.
The message informed me of the difficulty adjustment due to <Causality Correction>.
It was natural that the game would become harder as my level increased.
But unlike before, when it warned me of the appearance of a hero, this time the message had a different content.
Warning: Excessively biased karma in one direction may trigger <Causality Correction>. <Karma’s Judgment> has tilted. A low-level <Causality Correction> has occurred. Due to <Causality Correction>, [Divine Tool: Ascalon] has been released by one level. Causality Correction Progress: 3%
As the progress reached 3%, a new way of difficulty adjustment had taken place.
The release of [Divine Tool: Ascalon].
Considering that there was no divine tool with the same name among those I had created, [Divine Tool: Ascalon] must have belonged to the hero who had announced his appearance before.
Just like the apostles, the heroes also seemed to use divine tools.
Judging by the name divine tool, there might be other gods besides me.
“Well, how hard can it get anyway?”
It didn’t matter if other gods or heroes with divine tools popped up. The strategy for this kind of game was mostly simple.
Pay to win.
If you pay, you become stronger accordingly.
There is no enemy that you can’t beat if you throw enough cash at them.
If you think about it, using gacha doesn’t increase your karma, so the developers must have taken this into account to some extent.
Of course, how much money you need to spend to face the final boss is another question.
“In that sense, maybe I should do some spending today.”
I had received some money that I could use freely besides my salary.
I had already set aside enough money for this month’s rent and living expenses.
Therefore, the money that came in this time was nothing but pocket money for me to enjoy myself.
I could use gacha and order some chicken and beer without any problem.
I imagined a golden day of fun in my head and happily tapped on the store icon.
-Welcome to <Paid Currency Store>.
-<Paid Currency Store> sells various items for smooth gameplay.
The first thing I checked when I entered <Paid Currency Store> was the price of gacha.
In most games, you wouldn’t have to worry about this, but in this ruthless game, that assumption was meaningless.
80,000 won for 10 pulls.
The price was still the same as before.
If the price was unchanged, there was no need to hesitate.
I moved my finger and touched the gacha button.
-Preparing items. Please try again later.
And then I was stunned by the message that appeared on the screen.
Preparing items.
Along with that message, the gacha button was deactivated.
I was dumbfounded by what happened in an instant.
I scanned the screen with a blank stare.
A natural mutter escaped from my mouth.
“What, they need to prepare data for sale…?”