Ch.4004. Is This That Golden Sun or Whatever?

Seraphina Lector Infractus was the protagonist’s greatest ally in Tactical Combat. Given her superior status and talent compared to any other figure in the Empire, along with her strong desire for talented individuals, she was inevitably bound to become entangled with the player-controlled protagonist character.

In games, except for predetermined defeat routes, there was no way to fail until reaching an ending. Even though Tactical Combat offered high degrees of freedom, there were still predetermined endings.

In other words, the playable character was an icon of victory who knew no failure, and a personification of talent that grew infinitely as long as the player didn’t give up. It made no sense for Seraphina, with her strong desire for talented individuals, to leave such an extraordinary protagonist alone.

That’s why she used her background to secure the position of the protagonist’s greatest supporter. Perhaps because of this, Seraphina’s popularity in the world Gilbert lived in before his possession was higher than any other character. Interestingly, in Tactical Combat, which included romance elements, she was impossible to pursue romantically.

The developers had firmly established this point, causing much discontent among gamers. Those who had actually dissected the game confirmed that she was structurally blocked from being pursued romantically, not as a hidden Easter egg but as an intentional design choice.

Many gamers created fan works because of this, but that wasn’t important right now.

“Glory eternal to the Empire. Gilbert Lion Heart, the Empire’s small shield, presents himself before Your Highness, who will become the Empire’s sharpest sword.”

The moment Gilbert realized Seraphina had appeared before him, he immediately knelt on one knee and gave a knight’s salute.

His greeting was the imperial military salute, and he used the honorific title appropriate for addressing a noble with a promising knighthood when referring to Seraphina.

The reason was simple. Throughout the game, there were many events involving Seraphina, and he recalled how she would coldly rebuke powerful nobles whenever they used flowery phrases calling her the “moon” or “star” of the Empire.

Although her appearance was breathtakingly beautiful, making her one of the Empire’s most renowned beauties, she fundamentally considered herself a knight.

She was already an immediate military asset capable of supporting a major pillar of the Empire, and a veteran who had received her knighthood at an early age and participated in war.

During her military service, her rank was Captain, a position typically granted to feudal lords.

Though she was both an Imperial Princess and a Duchess, she could have risen to the rank of General, but her rank was determined considering her limited combat experience.

For someone like her, addressing her as an officer of the imperial army or as an imperial knight, rather than using flowery phrases like “moon” or “sword” of the Empire, was the better way to make a good impression.

Indeed, Seraphina looked very pleased at Gilbert who was kneeling on one knee in salute.

“Raise your head.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Trying not to make direct eye contact, he slightly raised his head to see a satisfied Seraphina. Fortunately, the greeting he had chosen for Seraphina seemed to be the correct one.

“You may stand.”

“I appreciate your consideration.”

He rose slowly and with dignity. Gilbert made every effort to avoid doing anything that could be criticized, and slightly bowed his head.

“I can see that your physique is fine, but perhaps you should put on proper clothing.”

“I have committed an impropriety.”

With his head bowed, he quickly but not hastily put on his upper garment. It wasn’t easy to wear due to the sweat soaking it, but not dressing properly could be considered an offense against the imperial family. After hurriedly fixing his collar, Gilbert slightly bowed his head again and waited for her words.

“You’re in the training room even before the Academy schedule begins. May I ask why?”

“I believe endless training is necessary to become the shield of the Empire.”

“An interesting statement. The shield of the Empire…”

Seraphina recalled who the man before her was and let out a small laugh.

The only people who could be called the shield of the Empire were the Margrave who guarded the Empire’s borders, and among them, there was only one noble with blonde hair. Moreover, she hadn’t forgotten the introduction he had made when greeting her.

Gilbert Lion Heart.

The legitimate son of the Count of Lithuania and a ward under his father, the eccentric who had turned the Empire’s social circles upside down.

The most notorious scoundrel was none other than Gilbert Lion Heart.

Naturally, Seraphina, with her keen interest in talented individuals, had received reports on all the children of powerful nobles, and had sorted through them to separate the wheat from the chaff. Among those who were immediately dismissed was Gilbert, who stood before her now.

The atrocities he had committed against the people of his domain were enough to make one shake their head in disbelief. Considering how he treated lower nobles, it was obvious how he would treat commoners. There were whispers in social circles that if his father hadn’t been the Count of Lithuania, he might have faced severe consequences.

Seraphina too had received such reports and considered Gilbert a rotten part of the Empire that needed to be cut off, but the person she met directly was different from what she had imagined. She knew he was entering the Academy this year, but the way he recognized her and treated her with noble etiquette, as well as the fact that he was in the training room even before the regular schedule began…

And the nearly perfect musculature she had seen when his upper garment was removed made it difficult to simply judge him as the worst kind of trash.

“Gilbert Lion Heart.”

“Command me, Your Highness. I will carry out any order without the slightest deviation.”

His disciplined posture as he stood at attention was remarkable. Seeing him embody the image of a loyal knight, her evaluation of Gilbert was being revised in real-time.

From a rotten bud that needed to be cut off to a person of interest who still needed to be watched.

“That will do. I don’t have any orders for you. I simply hope your loyalty remains unwavering.”

“My loyalty is directed solely toward the Empire, and I will fulfill my given duties.”

“Hehe. You are indeed interesting. I shall look forward to seeing more.”

Seraphina left the training room, imprinting the figure of Gilbert Lion Heart in her mind. The guards following her showed confusion at seeing a Gilbert different from the one they knew, but guards didn’t need to think too much.

Finally alone in the training room, Gilbert let out a long sigh of relief.

‘I guess I’ve passed one hurdle.’

He had contemplated meeting Seraphina. Given his rock-bottom reputation, if she were to become his ally, he wouldn’t be expelled from the Count’s family, so he had definitely wanted to make a good impression on her.

He had just planned to do it much later, but unexpectedly, he had made a strong impression on her. Although everything had been improvised, judging from the atmosphere and her parting words during their brief encounter, the result didn’t seem too bad.

But soon he shook his head and abandoned his optimistic thoughts. There was no need to despair, but his reputation as a scoundrel wasn’t going to disappear easily. Rumors and public evaluations aren’t easily removed. One can only cover them by adding something better.

Gilbert took off his upper garment again and resumed his extreme physical training. As long as he knew the events that would unfold in the game, opportunities would be given in one way or another. He just needed to build the foundation to seize those opportunities.

Once again, the training room heated up with the energy emanating from Gilbert’s body.

***

The entrance ceremony at Demeia Academy was very different from other academies. Instead of just having the academy’s principal give a congratulatory speech and declare the ceremony open, Demeia Academy’s entrance ceremony was a strange combination of a war deployment ceremony and a mock battle. In the game, it was designed as a tutorial, but in the setting, it embodied the slogan that Demeia Academy, which aimed to train personnel for war, had no need for empty formalities.

Scores were assigned based on performance in the mock battle, which determined class placement. For the protagonist character, this was how random ability scores were determined. In other words, it was a character-making tutorial where actions and dialogue choices determined what type of character would be developed.

Although Gilbert hadn’t become the playable character, since he had created a custom character, the same character-making method applied to him. The first thing he checked after being possessed was whether he could use the game system, and the result was that he couldn’t yet.

When he tried to bring up the character stats screen and saw the message that system access was not available until the tutorial was completed, he couldn’t help but shout. No matter how much the game had become reality, he needed something to rely on in this hopeless world, and the fact that he could use the game system was very encouraging.

Before heading to the entrance ceremony, Gilbert reviewed the character-making tutorial route he had done many times. He didn’t optimistically think everything would go smoothly like in the game, but he felt that without at least a minimal plan, it would be difficult to respond actively.

After waking up early and running through simulations several times, he psyched himself up and left the dormitory to participate in the entrance ceremony.