Genji was walking through the prosperous city when he was stopped by a group of guards. After surrounding him, they parted ways to allow someone in coarse linen robes to approach him.
"Esteemed hero. The pharaoh wishes to host a banquet for you for repelling the demon," the minister said, bowing.
Yet when Genji heard this, his hand instantly reached for the large saber on his back. He was certain that he killed the demon in secrecy, so how could these people know? Is this a trap? If so, should he go along with them, or should he break out right now?
The guards tensed up at his motion and also reached for their weapons, but the minister stopped them.
"We mean no harm, hero. The pharaoh was enlightened by the Sphinx about your deeds. We wish to celebrate your achievements."
Genji confirmed that they weren't lying, but that only confused him further. What was this Sphinx, and how did it know his actions? It had only been a few hours since the fight. This wasn't even enough time for any survivors to return, but they already knew the result.
And was this Sphinx a friend or foe? Was this even an enemy that he could fight? If not, should he give up this world's progress and settle for what he already accomplished?
These questions raced through his mind, but he was certain about one thing: the feast was organized by the people rather than the Sphinx. If the Sphinx was an unbeatable enemy, then it would have no reason to invite him. If he was simply something with a special ability, then it had all the more reason to avoid Genji. After all, Genji wasn't a friendly person with his heavy aura.
"Lead the way," Genji replied after considering everything.
For now, this feast didn't seem like a problem and might even be an opportunity to further improve his mission rating. After all, it was always easier to improve the world if he had the help of the local powers. If not, they would simply go their separate ways, and Genji would get a free meal.
Plus, if they dared to attack him, he would show them what it meant to enter the afterlife with irreversible regrets. It wasn't like this was the first time he killed the leader after strolling into the enemy camp.
After a few minutes, the guards escorted him to a grand building made of sandstone. The walls were slanted away and decorated with triangles of various shades of red. Large, smooth pillars propped up the ceiling and embellished the detailed stone carvings on the interiors.
Genji admired these features as they walked through the hallways. The guards kept a close watch over him, ready to attack at a moment's notice. Genji didn't blame them since the first thing he did when they met was to draw his weapon. Rather, he would be more hesitant about cooperating with the pharaoh if they weren't so vigilant.
After all, the quality of the subordinates says a lot about their supervisor. Soon, they entered a large room of empty space. The doors creaked open and echoed off the marble floor and bland walls, resounding for seconds after the movement. At the center of this was a large table where a young man sat.
But compared to the size of this dining room, this table seemed small, taking up only a small portion of it. It was as if all the furniture that used to be here was lost in time, leaving this mismatching scene.
'Isn't he too young to be a ruler? How can these people acknowledge him and follow his orders?' Genji thought as he sat down from across the pharaoh.
The pharaoh was a young man in his teens, no more than 15. Traces of baby fat jiggled as he slurped down a brown, pulpy liquid. From the smell, Genji guessed it was a fermented drink of some kind, but he had no interest. If he wanted a drink, his storage still had a few bottles of good rum.
"Hero, I toast to your victory," the pharaoh said, fumbling over his words. It felt unnatural as if someone told him what to say.
Genji frowned at this observation but kept his opinions to himself. "Thank you, but I would like to eat first."
"Ah yes. I was neglectful. Bring out the food!"
At his command, the servants brought out platters of gold, silver, and other elaborate cutlery. They skillfully set the table and presented the food. But while the display was opulent, the food was far from sumptuous. Pieces of sliced fruits, bread, butter, and vegetables were placed between them.
Genji politely took a portion and tasted it. It was bland, very bland. Many of the essential seasonings were missing, leaving only salt and its natural flavors. This typically wouldn't be a bad thing if it was done right, but this meal was far from it. In fact, many of the vegetables were overcooked and mushy; the bread was stale, the butter sour, and the fruits dry.
It was an unpalatable meal for most rulers, but the pharaoh scarfed everything down greedily. Seeing this, Genji knew the pharaoh wasn't hosting a poor welcome, but a true lavish meal.
'How sad. Even the ruler could only eat such foods. It really shows how hard it is to grow food here.'
Also, meat was nonexistent in this world. Unless they could hunt a river crocodile, as Genji did, anything they killed would be dangerous to consume. Genji didn't know what was poisoning all the animals in this world, but it was bad.
'It doesn't seem like an artificial poison. Could it be a side effect of overharvesting of resources? Maybe one of the materials from the previous civilization released this poison?'
Genji made some blind guesses and had a flash of inspiration.
'That's right! Poison doesn't need to be made using chemicals or biological parts. I can use minerals as well. Too bad my inheritances don't contain information on that.'
"Is something the matter? If you don't like the meal, I can have the chefs change it," the pharaoh asked, noticing the untouched food on Genji's plate.
"No need. I was just lost in thought," Genji replied and symbolically finished his food. Since he intended to cooperate with this pharaoh, it would be counterproductive to leave a bad impression.
After they finished, the servants cleaned the table and brought out a grey broadsword. It was an oddly shaped sword, making it difficult to balance, and required four people to carry it.
[Sword of Stone]
Rating: Rare
Attack: 22
Requirements: 18 str
Durability: 110/120
Skills:
1. Fortitude(Passive): +2 defense when using blocking techniques
2. Heavy(Active): Double the weight of this sword for 5 seconds, cooldown of 1 hour
Description: An ancient sword that many disregarded for its unwieldiness
"Hero, if you would accept our reward."
While they claimed it was a reward, Genji knew this was their attempt at enticing him to stay. He had to admit, whoever came up with this was clever, to use such a terrible weapon to gain his favor. But even if it was a better weapon, Genji would refuse without hesitation. If he showed that he could be easily brought over like that, then he would become a servant in their eyes.
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"No thanks. I'll take my leave now."
The pharaoh was confused by his sudden decision but did nothing. His advisors said to not say anything rash if he didn't know how to react.
On his way out, Genji spotted the twitching lips of a middle-aged advisor.
'Looks like he's the one directing everything. Too bad I don't play by the rules. Now if you want to continue this bargain, you will have to break appearances and cross your ruler's authority. He might be incompetent, but can you really do that in front of everyone?'
Once Genji confirmed that this show wouldn't continue, he increased his stride and gave them time to reconsider.
"Why did he walk out like that?" The young ruler asked the advisor.
*Sigh* "I underestimated him. I thought he would be tempted by that reward, but I was wrong. We're going to need to rethink how to draw him in."
"Okay. Just tell me when you're done." Then the pharaoh dragged his favorite maid to his bedroom and shut the door.
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They're still following me," Genji noticed the hidden guards as he strolled through the streets. Despite their attempts at hiding, they couldn't escape Genji's keen senses. With his grandmaster-level stealth, if he couldn't detect them, then all his coins were spent in vain.
In the next moment, the guards' eyes widened in shock as they realized they had lost track of Genji.
"Where did he go? He was right here a moment ago," they questioned each other as they turned the corner. After a futile search, they gave up and decided to report back.
Once they departed, Genji emerged from a dark corner and continued his walk. During his stroll, he spotted a few merchant stalls, although the prosperity was far less compared to the Oasis town.
*Stomp stomp*
Turning to the sound's source, Genji found someone aggressively stomping on a starchy root, displaying an unusual level of frustration. It was a strange contrast since the person only had a tired look on his face.
"What are you doing?" Genji asked, handing over a piece of ivory.
At the sight of the tooth, the person's eyes lit up and became cooperative.
"The pharaoh is meeting an important guest today and ordered everyone to crush topatica roots."
"How does that relate?"
"I don't know."
"Excuse me?"
"The pharaoh believes these roots bring bad luck, so we crush them on his orders."
"How weird. Do you mind if I take the rest of your stock?"
"Sure," the person replied, relieved to be spared from the tiring task.
Genji took the ruffle sack and secluded himself in a remote room. These roots had piqued his interest, and he wanted to run some tests. After setting up a miniature lab, he dissected and analyzed the roots' composition. A few hours later, Genji let out an annoyed sigh.
"What the hell! Why the fuck is the pharaoh asking people to crush these roots? It's like the perfect food source for this environment and he's wasting it like this."
After extensive testing, Genji discovered that these roots were highly nutritious, easy to grow with minimal water requirements, and resilient in various temperatures. If everyone could grow these, it could easily solve the world's food shortages. Despite this, the pharaoh insisted on destroying them for no apparent reason.
"Is he that stupid or is there more to it?"
Genji set aside his doubts and decided to investigate further. If the issue was as simple as ignorance, he could easily change the pharaoh's mind. By then, wouldn't he have made a huge contribution to the world?
However, if there was more to it, he had a mystery to unravel. Either way, his actions would benefit his mission.
"The simplest way is to ask him directly. Let's find him."
Genji packed his analyzing tools and headed for the grand building in the city's center. After confirming there were no guards around, he merged into the shadows and infiltrated the building.
Genji quickly familiarized himself with the building layout and searched for the pharaoh's location. Eventually, he came to a room that resounded with loud moans. Occasionally, the sound of clapping flesh sounded, giving everyone a clear idea of the explicit content inside.
When Genji opened the door, he found the young pharaoh rolling around beneath the bedsheets with a gorgeous, naked woman. Genji calmly shut the door and crept up behind the busy teen. At his silhouette, the woman beneath the pharaoh became wide-eyed. But before she could utter a single scream, Genji knocked them both unconscious.
Then he dragged the pharaoh aside and splashed him with cold water. The pharaoh's eyelids fluttered slightly before opening in confusion.
'What happened? Wasn't I just pounding Jalack? Did I do it too hard and lose my memories?'
"Wakey wakey. You can continue your fun later, but I have some questions for you."
The pharaoh jumped at this abrupt voice, but a firm hand covered his mouth before he could make any sounds.
"Now now. No need to make a fuss over this. It's just a little thing, but I don't mind killing you if you want to escalate things. I'm sure your guards won't be able to catch me considering how I snuck in without trouble. Do you understand? If you do, blink three times."
By now, the pharaoh recognized who this intruder was and obediently obliged. Who was he kidding? This was the man who killed a demon! Unless it was necessary, he didn't want to risk his life. He was too young to and he still had other maids he wanted to enjoy. Plus, this "hero" didn't seem completely hostile so there might be a chance.
"Good choice." Genji took out a root from his robes and showed it to him. "Do you know what this is?"
"No. Why are you asking me that?"
Genji peered into the pharaoh's eyes and found genuine confusion. The pharaoh wasn't lying, which surprised Genji. How could a ruler order the destruction of something they couldn't identify?
"Never mind then. Can you tell me why you're having people destroy topatica roots?"
"Advisor Ruhi told me they are ominous. Only by destroying them can we get rid of bad luck."
This time, the pharaoh answered confidently, but it was a very dumb answer. What kind of person abuses their power because someone said so? What was the difference between that and a puppet ruler?
'This kid's more incompetent than I thought.'
"Who is Ruhi?"
"He was the first person on your right when you left today," he answered.
Genji thought back to that description and vividly recalled who he was talking about.
'Wasn't that the mastermind behind the whole encounter? How much influence do you have? Just who are you really?'
"That's everything. You can continue where you left off," Genji said and disappeared into the shadows. But in contrast to his words, the pharaoh was in no mood to resume his intense exercises. For one, his partner was unconscious and secondly, he just couldn't get it up after the roller coaster of emotions.
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Once Genji exited the room, he continued to roam the building, searching for the specific advisor mentioned by the pharaoh. There was a slim chance of finding him in this building, but he should be close. Genji investigated the connecting buildings throughout the night before finally finding the target's room.
As he sneaked in, Genji realized the person was nothing but a normal human. Not even an ounce of awareness or security measures was present.
'How careless. Is he really the mastermind with this level of precaution? He's practically defenseless right now. If I wanted to, I could easily slit his throat and leave.'
After double-checking that this wasn't a trap and that the advisor was, in fact, a normal person, he approached the bed. Everything appeared normal, but that only made things more suspicious.
How could someone who incapacitated the world's food supply be so simple? Genji refused to believe that this advisor didn't understand the value of those roots when he suggested their destruction. It wasn't like the tests were hard to conduct either.
'Still no reaction. Isn't he too complacent or is he not even guarding against this?'
Genji looked around the bed some more and found nothing. Left with no choice, he approached the man and readied his dagger for any possible changes. Still nothing, even with the dagger against the neck.
'Is he faking this, or is he actually asleep?'
Genji reached up to the closed eyes and pried them open. But as he looked into them, he saw a scene that exceeded his wildest imagination. Instead of the normal dull eyes of a sleeping person, Genji saw dilated pupils covered by the faint lines of a magic circle. While he was ignorant of the circle's effect, he confirmed that this advisor was far from normal.
'I think it's time to leave now.'
Genji closed the eyelids and left the room, ready to continue the investigation the following day. Since he couldn't gather any information while the subject was asleep, he would wait until he was awake.
Yet as Genji left the room, the advisor's eyelids burst open, peering uncannily at the door. Yet before the scene could get any creepier, they snapped shut as the door opened again to reveal Genji.
'Seems like he's normal. Why did I get the feeling that he was looking at me then?'
Genji walked over and observed the limp body for some time. As much as he wanted to kill him right now, he held himself back. After confirming again that everyone was normal, Genji left for good.
While this was happening, a woman cursed venomously in a dark room of an unknown location.
"Dammit! Why is someone investigating this? How did he catch on? Fuck, will all my plans be ruined like this?"
The unknown woman smashed some furniture in the room and vented her anger chaotically, but it only worsened her frustrations.
"Motherfucker! After everything I did to lower EonRealm's credibility in this world, someone else is going to swoop in and steal my hard work? That root discovery is supposed to be mine! How dare you try to steal MY mission?!?!?"
She screamed hysterically, assuming Genji was after her premeditated results despite having revealed nothing about his goals. Yet this paranoid way of thinking actually hit the mark in a twist of coincidences.
"No, calm down. There might be a way. Believe in yourself. With this magic, nothing should be impossible. Yes, there must be a way to turn this around."
She comforted herself, racking her brain for any possible plans before settling on one.
"Yes, ahahahahaha. I'm still the smartest! You want to steal my hard work? I'll show you what it means to make even Satan cry in fear! And while I'm at it, I'll make you into a helpless slave. I'll trap your mind and force you to watch how you obey my every order without any hope of resistance! Despair, you filthy maggot! Hahahaha."