Ch.2Peddlers Not Welcome

BANG!

Just as I was about to put the next piece of steak in my mouth, the door to the hospital room was roughly thrown open, and those who opened it were staring at me with surprised eyes.

“W-who are you? The master is currently having his meal.”

Startled by the sudden visit, Michaela courageously addressed the men, but what came back was an extremely loud shout.

“Silence! Know your place, maid, and don’t overstep your bounds.”

I carefully examined the attire of those who were berating Michaela.

Their clothes were extravagant, even embedded with jewels, clearly screaming “I’m wealthy,” which meant they were merchants.

When I thought about why these merchants had come all the way to my hospital room, there could only be one reason.

Payment for a contract I had made with them before I was injured.

They had come because I was now conscious, and they wanted to settle the payment for our contract.

That much I could understand. They are the type who live and die for money.

But how dare these lowly merchants raise their voices so boldly in the presence of a sovereign?

Clack!

Flinch!

When I deliberately put down my cutlery loudly, the merchants flinched and looked at me.

“What is the meaning of this?”

As I looked at them with contempt, the oldest-looking one among them, a fat elderly man, cleared his throat and stepped forward.

“Ahem. Your Highness Tiberius. We congratulate you on your recovery from injury. We merely…”

“Silence. How dare you, a subordinate, open your mouth without the sovereign’s permission?”

“B-but…”

“Moreover, you dare intimidate the maidservant attending to me? Do you truly wish to lose your head?”

As I took a strong stance, the merchants all prostrated themselves at once.

Fools. I don’t know if they thought I couldn’t make sound judgments because my head was cracked, or if they were just so focused on collecting their payment that they dared to roll their eyes in front of a sovereign, but this cannot be overlooked.

“F-forgive us, Your Highness! These lowly ones have dared to behave disrespectfully in your presence!”

Their appearance was utterly disgraceful.

Dozens of men prostrating themselves in the narrow corridor of the hospital room.

“Get out of my sight! If you act so rashly again, I will have your heads for desecrating noble blood!”

“Yes!”

I shouted “Go!” and ordered the merchants to leave, and only then could I leisurely enjoy my cooling steak again.

*

The next day. I finally prepared to leave the hospital room and return to my castle.

Michaela helped dress me and gave me a simple wash, as I still had difficulty with detailed movements. Thanks to her, I was able to return to the castle while stroking my clean chin.

“Make way! His Highness Tiberius is passing through!”

The coachman carrying me shouted loudly, dispersing the commoners gathered on the main road, and I looked at the commoners who were staring blankly at the carriage.

Despite winter approaching, their attire looked quite sparse; likely some of the weaker ones would struggle to survive this winter.

Bump! Bump!

“Ugh!”

“Master, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Even though we had arrived at the castle, the dirt road full of stones and gravel made me feel like I had truly come to a medieval world.

Of course, due to my injury, I had to feel my organs sink with every jolt of the carriage.

Considering my injuries, it would have been better to stay in the hospital for another month, but I needed to hurry to show that the ruler of this city was still alive and well.

Besides, winter would come in about a month, and it would be impossible to sleep warmly in that hospital.

And since I had to pay the merchants anyway, I needed to return to the castle for that as well.

At least within the castle, I could guarantee absolute safety.

And the food is better too.

“Ah… finally, the castle.”

It’s a bit strange for me to say this, but this city was quite small.

The roads extended in straight lines from the castle, with the urban area formed along those roads.

Clop… clop…

Before I knew it, the carriage had arrived at the castle, and I got out with Michaela’s support.

“Sovereign of Laurentum. Welcome to your castle.”

“Ignatz… it’s good to see you again.”

Ignatz silently smiled and walked beside me.

Though it was a small castle, it had everything it needed, and now with my entry, this castle would be complete.

Rumble—–

[Earth Core activated.]

[Confirmed return of the activation rights holder.]

At that moment, a kind of wave arose from deep underground, and my wounded body accepted the wave without any resistance.

“Ugh…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just the Earth Core’s wave reaching me.”

“Hahaha… It seems the land is also rejoicing that its rightful master is alive.”

“It seems so.”

You’ve probably seen in games how a few warehouses can safely store items regardless of their volume, weight, type, or characteristics, and how scaffolding suddenly appears and materials hang down just by pressing a command button in mid-air.

The vast majority of games gloss over this without explanation, and players who play them probably think, “Well, it’s a game, so of course.”

However, Polistory succeeded in incorporating these game allowances as elements within the game, and the result was the ‘Earth Core.’

As the name suggests, when this Earth Core is created, a certain area around it becomes a sanctuary that no monsters or demons can approach.

It’s a kind of safe zone concept, but it has the fatal flaw that it cannot prevent human intrusion.

And the Earth Core imprints a kind of ‘mark’ on the first person who discovers it, and since this mark is genetically inherited, the vast majority of people in this world who want to live safely have no choice but to bow their heads to the activation rights holders—the nobles.

If they don’t like it, they can go outside where monsters and demons run rampant. The choice was always free.

Also, there was one most important point: the Earth Core had the cheat-like ability to store unlimited surplus goods, limited to products from its own land.

In other words, it was an unlimited storage that neither rotted nor froze.

Therefore, in this world, a “warehouse” was a kind of terminal that connected to the storage room of the Earth Core, so it was much smaller in scale compared to reality.

And of course, the authority to open and close that warehouse also belonged to the activation rights holders.

*

Gulp.

I drank the chilled wine refreshingly while writing a document ordering payment to the merchants on parchment.

Once this document is delivered, the storekeepers who have been granted access to the warehouse by me will hand over the payment to the merchants.

“By the way, what did I order? There were dozens of them gathered…”

I closed my eyes and scanned through the items currently stored in the Earth Core.

Even for a small city, there were various items stored as 10,000 people lived there, so I narrowed down the range to items that had been brought in large quantities, and only then could I understand what I had ordered before my head injury.

“Fabric… thick fabric at that. And firewood…”

The thick fabric was for making clothes for winter, and the firewood… well, does it need explanation? Whether summer or winter, easily combustible logs were always in short supply, so it wasn’t unnecessary overspending.

By the way, in which year of this city did I end up?

[About 2 years from the Earth Core activation point.]

“2 years, huh…”

The fact that the population remained at around 10,000 after experiencing two winters meant either as many people had moved in as had died, or the population hadn’t decreased at all.

Either way, it meant that I, before being possessed, had at least minimal competence.

Just look at how the payment is ready right on time.

One might ask if this isn’t obvious, but unfortunately, the average rulers of this world weren’t that capable.

There was no need for them to be, because even if a revolution occurred, if the Earth Core stopped, it would be as good as death, and even if someone else had activation rights, the current activator could simply revoke those rights.

In other words, it was impossible to shake the thrones of rulers, which is why many incompetent rulers in this world could exercise tyranny and remain safe.

So, by this world’s standards, I was a very merciful and extremely capable alpha-class ruler.

The fact that Michaela, who was attending to me, was still a virgin was evidence supporting this.