Chapter 16: Craftsman and Lover – 3

After barely managing to explain the reason for my late logout from the world of Rudera to Wald, I returned to my room and contacted Carthesia.

“So, he was your disciple?”

“That’s right. To be precise, he was a human child I took in during one of my playful adventures.”

“To think that the first emperor of the Empire was raised by Carthesia…”

Apparently, Carthesia once roamed the continent as a wandering swordsman for fun.

During that time, she picked up a scruffy kid from a village that had been burned down by bandits.

That kid turned out to be Ahenobarbus, the first emperor of the Empire.

I had merely used the memories that Carthesia had passed on as assets to model NPCs, but it just so happened that one of those models was the form of Carthesia as a wandering swordsman, who was the teacher of the first emperor.

What a coincidence…

It felt as if someone had orchestrated it on purpose, it was such a series of unfortunate coincidences.

• When Carthesia found the first emperor, she originally intended to leave him behind.

However, on a whim, she decided to do something a little different for this adventure and took him in as her disciple.

At first, she thought he was just a somewhat talented child, so she taught him how to wield a sword.

Before she knew it, he had surpassed the level of a master, gathered a following, and founded a nation.

-I had only taught him how to fight to keep up the wandering swordsman persona during my adventure, and I didn’t give him any other help.

So, he really founded an empire from nothing?

… I thought he was a delusional madman, but he turned out to be quite an extraordinary human.

“But why isn’t there any mention of this wandering swordsman in the Empire’s history?”

“Well, that’s complicated to explain…”

Carthesia paused for a moment before continuing.

-After he subjugated the surrounding countries and declared the establishment of the Empire, on the day of his coronation, he came to me. He said he could protect me with his power. That nothing would dare to harm his master. He wanted us to live together in the Empire.

To protect his beloved master, he founded a country, and that wasn’t enough, so he conquered neighbouring nations.

He ascended to the throne and wanted to live together.

It’s a very romantic story.

If only that master hadn’t been a polymorphed dragon.

-For someone like me who wanders for fun, living together wasn’t worth considering. Besides, he was a lesser being, not an equal to me. I never once saw him as a man.

I guess this is how it looks from a dragon’s perspective.

From a dragon’s point of view, even a disciple met during an adventure would be akin to an NPC in a game.

-But Albus, you are different. I don’t think of you that way. Anyway, to continue the story, the night I refused his offer, some of his loyal subordinates tried to capture me. From their perspective, an unknown woman was controlling their lord, which must have been unacceptable.

As subjects of the Empire, their actions make some sense.

To them, the superhuman emperor being manipulated by an unknown woman must have been intolerable.

For the sake of the Empire’s stability, dealing with her would have been the best course of action.

Again, if only that woman hadn’t been a polymorphed dragon.

“So, what happened?”

-Those insignificant beings dared to touch me and tried to kidnap me, so I erased them.

… Talking with a dragon always feels surreal.

Is it because I’m conversing with a being that far surpasses humans?

-But at the same time, I realized that as long as my disciple was on the throne, these incidents would keep happening. I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my adventures. It was time to end this adventure and move on to the next one.

I can picture it.

Carthesia, with her personality, would have staged a grand finale to end her adventure as a wandering swordsman, which led to the emperor never forgetting his master.

-There was a perfect event for the finale—a spy from a destroyed kingdom disguised as a servant was biding their time near my disciple.

What?

-So, I went back to my disciple after punishing his subordinates and confronted him about their actions. Of course, this was to provoke the spy into making an assassination attempt.

Wait a minute.

Does that mean…?

-He was shocked by my words, creating an opening, and the spy took the chance to attack him. I blocked the attack with my polymorphed body.

I heard Carthesia’s satisfied laughter through telepathy.

-A wandering swordsman sacrificing their life to protect the emperor—it was a grand and beautiful end to the adventure.

This dopamine-addicted dragon!

You created a tragic, obsessive, dark drama!

That’s why the emperor ended up the way he did!

After that incident, he searched for ways to revive the dead.

He must have been desperate to bring back the wandering swordsman.

It was impossible since the person never really existed.

Obsessed with reviving the dead, he eventually disappeared.

Without properly passing on his legacy, one of his subordinates took the throne.

The new emperor erased all records of the wandering swordsman and the first emperor’s final moments to protect the legitimacy of the Empire.

So that’s how it was.

That’s why there’s no proper record of the first emperor’s actions after declaring the Empire.

“Then, what happened to that emperor after he disappeared?”

-I don’t know. He might have lost his life dabbling in dangerous forbidden magic. I lost interest once the adventure ended.

… Dragon.

Once the adventure ended, you really didn’t care about the first emperor at all.

Is that how humans are to dragons?

“Is that why you became the guardian dragon of the Empire?”

-That has nothing to do with him. To be precise, it’s unrelated to that adventure. But why are you suddenly asking about him?

I wondered if I should tell Carthesia about what happened with the first emperor.

… No.

It’s better if the first emperor continues to mistake that NPC Solaris for the reincarnation of his master than knowing this sad truth.

“Ahaha. Well, you see, I was thinking about new content to add to Rudera. I thought using a historical figure like the first emperor would be interesting, so I asked about it.”

-Is that so? Unfortunately, it would be best not to use his story. Even though he’s been dead for a long time, using his story without permission might upset a lot of people.

“Of course, I understand. That’s why I’ve only used fictional characters, but they still get confused with reality. Especially with big figures like the Demihuman King and the first emperor. I really don’t know anymore.”

When the first emperor was convinced that I was the GM and that I was using Solaris to lure and persecute him, I had a big dilemma.

How could I unravel this tangled mess?

Then I had a flash of inspiration.

Since he was already misunderstanding, I decided to make him misunderstand even more.

I decided to act as a god who takes on the role of the villain.

I provoked him further with Solaris, as if I wanted him to awaken.

I acted as a testing god, pretending to take his lover Solaris away from him and then returning her.

It was a plan I came up with on the spot, and since I had never acted before, there were many awkward parts.

But judging by the first emperor’s final reaction, it seemed to have worked to some extent.

The problem is that Solaris isn’t really his mentor, the Wandering Swordsman, reincarnated, and she doesn’t have her memories…

Oh well, I did everything I could.

If things go wrong, I’ll ask for Carthesia’s help.

…But didn’t the first emperor already awaken his divine power?

Can Carthesia really win?

***

“Glory to Deus!”

Flash.

On the third floor of the Labyrinth Tower.

A woman with a holy aura shouted loudly among the paladins surrounded by countless monsters.

From her, an immense wave of divine power erupted.

“Kiieeeek!”

The monsters hit directly by the divine power melted away.

“Phew. Thank you for your hard work, Saint.”

The paladin wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke to the Saint, Eclesia, who had performed the miracle.

“Thanks to you, Saint, it’s much easier to advance! But is it alright for you to help us here?”

The Saint had come to the academy to find the protagonist of the goddess’s oracle.

She was supposed to search the academy for the oracle’s protagonist, but due to the sudden appearance of the Labyrinth Tower, she was unable to fulfil the goddess’s special command and was supporting the paladins instead.

“I will support you only until the goddess’s knights establish a foothold here in the Labyrinth Tower. Once I determine that we’re on track, I will return to my mission.”

“I see! Thank you so much, Saint. May Deus’s blessing be with you forever!”

As the paladin and the Saint conversed, Boom, boom.

An enormous wave emanated from the Evil God’s Hall in the centre of the third floor of the Labyrinth Tower.

It was the aftermath of the birth of a god and the clash of divine powers between the GM and Ahenobarbus.

“What, what’s this!”

“This is… ugh!”

Eclesia, who had sensed the wave, suddenly grabbed her head and fell to her knees.

“Are you alright, Saint!”

“Kyaa!”

Numerous scenes replayed in her mind.

Memories of long years flowed into her mind.

“Saint!”

The paladin barely managed to catch the collapsing Saint.

“Hah… hah… hah…”

Finally, the headache subsided, and she panted heavily.

“Are you alright?”

Ding.

[The 66th Pandemonium on the third floor of the Labyrinth Tower has been cleared by player ‘Ahenobarbus’ and three others.]

“So that wave just now was the clearing of the floor.”

The paladin muttered as she looked at the floating system window.

“…Husband.”

“What? What did you say?”

“We must find… Albus!”

“Al…bus?”

“Yes! As soon as possible!”

She regained the memories of the future.

Or should it be called returning to the past?

Now that she’s back in the past, there’s no time to waste.

She must find him quickly.

The last hope against the most terrible disaster god, GM, who will destroy the continent in the future.

Her one and only beloved husband, with whom she whispered words of love.

The Hero Albus.