As time passed, the long-anticipated Ragnarshut ultimately failed to come to fruition.
This was, of course, a natural outcome since Kalakh, who had initially challenged the Third Lord to a duel, had disappeared.
To be precise, the reason was that the guy had died at my hands, but naturally, there was no one who knew that fact.
It wasn’t until a few days after the duel was called off that news of Kalakh’s disappearance rocked the Third Lord’s Domain.
With their leader gone, the Orc Tribe quickly quieted down. Furthermore, with Kalakh’s disappearance, the justification for a race war among the species had vanished as well.
The only issue was that although Kalakh’s body had been fully disposed of and wouldn’t be discovered, the cleanup of the battle site that he and I had clashed at proved to be impossible.
As I watched the situation develop, Arkhan approached me quietly with a smug smirk on her face and whispered,
“Sixth Lord, was it you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You really shouldn’t try to fool me. Who else could have created such a chaotic scene?”
“I don’t know.”
“Huh? Sixth Lord! Where are you going?”
Though the Grand Lord seemed to suspect me rather than outright accuse me, I maintained my act. Still, it was bothersome that reports about the scene had reached even the Third Lord’s ears.
Though there were mere suspicions and no concrete evidence to nail me, I believed the matter would quietly fade away.
“Why did you do it?”
The Third Lord suddenly appeared in the room and, with his signature sharp gaze, stared at me while raising his voice.
It was clear from his expression that he was quite annoyed.
Since this situation was clearly my fault, I refrained from responding.
I wasn’t sure whether he was angry that the prestigious duel had come to nothing or whether he was grateful since I had cleared away the nuisance on his behalf.
Still, before I could find an excuse, the Third Lord decisively spoke.
“There’s no point in dodging the question. Sixth Lord, I know full well this was your doing.”
“…”
“I want to know your reasoning. From the looks of the scene, it seemed you had no intention of covering your tracks. Why? Didn’t you know that I wouldn’t favor such a situation?”
Of course, I knew. It was precisely because of his stubbornness that I acted. As a result, though I successfully absorbed the Rune of Elements, the situation was understandably infuriating from his perspective.
The duel had ended disastrously right when things were going smoothly, and it was entirely due to my unilateral decision.
Still, given all the factors, I had no regrets since I had accounted for everything before making my move.
“I want to understand your reasons.”
The Third Lord who had been quietly glaring at me spoke up.
“There was no intention of deceit, I imagine. If there had been, you wouldn’t have tried to dissuade me from dying in the first place, nor would you have left the scene so openly behind.”
His words were half right, half wrong. While I hadn’t intended to deceive him, leaving the scene untidy was due to my overindulgence with the newly gained power of the Rune of Elements.
“Your visit back then to dissuade me seemed strange to begin with. A Lord such as you wouldn’t be unfamiliar with the weight of an oath, wouldn’t you?”
The question, ‘How should a modern person like me be expected to know about that?’ almost slipped out, but I managed to hold it back.
“Why? Was there a specific reason?”
“…”
“Are you planning to continue staying silent?”
In this world, promises and oaths were closely tied to honor and were viewed with a kind of sanctity. I had expected the Third Lord to feel insulted, but surprisingly, he remained calm and rational.
‘You lost for sure, so I killed you.’ Saying that would lead to outright conflict, so I carefully phrased my response.
“The life of a Lord is not something to be trifled with lightly.”
With that statement, I fell silent.
Staring at me blankly for a moment, the Third Lord twitched as though surprised before letting out a hollow laugh.
“Do you mean… you couldn’t stand by and watch me die?”
“…”
“Hmm, if that’s your intention Sixth Lord, I will not press further. Your actions stemmed from good intentions to save me, for which I’m grateful.”
“…?”
It seemed the Third Lord thought I had killed Kalakh and endured this troublesome situation for his sake. But that was incorrect.
It wasn’t for the Third Lord but entirely for my benefit. To be honest, it didn’t matter much whether he lived or died. I was merely worried about the administrative tasks for the Third Lord’s Domain that would fall upon me if he died.
However, I couldn’t say that directly, so my silence inadvertently led to the misunderstanding.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, my honor is preserved, and I avoid the situation of death. I will certainly repay this debt.”
“It isn’t necessary to go to such lengths.”
“There’s no need to refuse. As you said, the life of a Lord is far too precious.”
Having said that, the Third Lord left his post.
The matter unfolded more smoothly than expected, and all my objectives were achieved. The Rune of Elements was absorbed, and the species war in the Third Lord’s Domain was successfully averted. Now, all that remained was the main scenario from the original story.
‘Though the future has changed somewhat…’
Due to my interference, the flow of events would likely diverge from the original narrative. But in my current state, I believed I could handle anything that came my way, as long as it wasn’t the Final Boss Line.
Silvia had already joined the group, so there wasn’t much to worry about. I could leave all the tedious tasks to Silvia and only handle the enemies at or above the Boss level myself.
Admittedly, the notorious trio as the Final Boss won’t be an easy feat, but that’s something we could address later.
My tasks were complete. All that remained was one thing.
“Silvia.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s return to the Sixth Lord’s Domain.”
*
We came with the Grand Lord, but we returned separately.
The Grand Lord had some business to attend to and headed back to headquarters, while Silvia and I made our way back to Blackmore.
Before leaving, I embedded a compressed image—a ‘marker’—near the Third Lord’s Domain as a precaution in case anything unexpected happened. It was essentially insurance that enabled immediate long-distance teleportation if problems should arise.
We also visited the imperial palace on our way back.
Since the Emperor, that annoying old man, would surely be a nuisance, I didn’t enter the palace grounds. Instead, I placed a marker near the capital of the empire.
It was only a moment before we returned to Blackmore, completing our journey.
Returning to the Sixth Lord’s Domain, my daily routine resumed as usual. Trivial tasks were handled by Silvia; Elfried was always busy with missionary activities and rarely showed up. Adina was constantly shadowing Elfried, and Rudine, having acquired the Devouring Sword, was engrossed in monster hunting deep within Blackmore. As a candidate of the Seeds of Doom, Rudine’s growth was exceptionally fast. She could now easily handle medium-grade Demon Beasts.
Meanwhile, I naturally spent my time lazing around in the bedroom.
Due to physiological changes, sleep and hunger were no longer compulsive instincts, making days seem endlessly long. Fortunately, total inability to eat or sleep wasn’t the case, although there was a clear difference.
While normal individuals fall asleep naturally due to fatigue, I sought sleep out of boredom. Even my method of falling asleep was unique—I fell asleep and woke up strictly according to my will, akin to flipping a switch.
Although eating and sleeping were familiar to me, I deliberately maintained these habits for amusement. It was through this that I somewhat understood why transcendent beings often indulged in trivial pursuits.
Then one day,
“Sixth Lord.”
Silvia approached me, holding something in her arms.
Having been lying listlessly in bed out of boredom, I sat up at once. Upon noticing her, the black cloak she was holding caught my attention.
“What’s this?”
“It’s an artifact made from Ouroboros’s remains.”
“An artifact? This cloak?”
“Yes, its name is ‘Black Net.'”
The name rang a bell in my memory. It was an object that erased the wearer’s very existence—not merely concealing their presence. Known to be one of the top-tier items in this world, this item erased the very essence of its wearer.
“Are you giving this to me?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
“Isn’t it because you need it more, Sixth Lord?”
That wasn’t true at all. This Black Net would become incredibly useful during the upcoming main episodes, especially for her, someone who would need to be active and agile in various places.
But Silvia looked at me as if puzzled, her gaze identical to how I often viewed her—like she was saying, ‘You, who will become busy, need this item.’
“This isn’t something I need. You should have it, Silvia.”
“I’m fine. This is something that the Lord will need more in the future.”
“No, it will be you—not me—who will be busy going forward.”
“What? How busy could I be compared to the Sixth Lord who only needs to process paperwork?”
…Wait a minute.
Could this kid be trying to offload the entire mission on me?
“No idea what you’re talking about. In any case, this cloak belongs to you, Silvia. You claim the end times are coming, don’t you? Since you can see the future, shouldn’t you be using this to take action?”
“What? I don’t have the capabilities to take on such a significant role. Only someone like the Sixth Lord, who has transcended, could handle it.”
“I haven’t transcended.”
“Yes, you most certainly have, Sixth Lord.”
Seems I was right. Silvia—the protagonist from the original story—might be devising a scheme to offload all her duties onto me, allowing herself to slack off.
“In any case, this is none of my concern. You should wear it.”
“No, do you realize how precious this item is? This is something meant for the Sixth Lord, not an ordinary person like me.”
“You can see the future, yet you insist on calling yourself ordinary? Silvia, you’re not an ordinary person. Whoever possesses the gift to see the future inevitably becomes entangled in the fabric of the world. Thus, abandon such frivolous thoughts.”
“Doesn’t this logic apply to you as well, Sixth Lord? The ability to merely glimpse parts of the future can’t compare to the transcendent power of a Lord!”
Something had to be done. It seemed as if the protagonist of the original story had a skewed mindset. I was contemplating teaching her a lesson and preventing her from spouting such nonsense again, when …
Knock, knock.
A steady knocking sounded before the door carefully opened.
“…?”
Through the opened door crept none other than Elfried Trivia, the genuine saint of the original story. Both Silvia and I were equally startled to see her approaching. Elfried quietly entered the room, and when our eyes met, she froze. Her gaze, capable of piercing through the very form of a soul, flashed.
“A-Ah…!”
Her eyes widened, and her body trembled, even tears streaming down her face. But instead of fear, it was a kind of awe-struck reaction. She approached me, muttering unintelligibly under her breath, and when she finally reached my bedside, she dropped onto one knee, delicately grabbing my right hand that was resting on the bed.
She whispered, “You’ve regained part of your strength.”
With a flushed face, incomprehensible murmurs followed, before her lips softly touched my palm.
“My Kabila…”
“…”
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