Clip-clop. Clip-clop.
Beneath a starry sky of picturesque nightscape, a symphony of hooves pounded along a gravel path as Virtus’s retinue made their way to Novus. Taking the scene in, a red-haired archer hung to the back of the procession, bow and reins in hand.
‘The visibility is really good at night...’
There were two moons in the sky, so despite the sun having set, the brightness was still quite high; Max could make out the shapes of trees more than a hundred metres away. In front, Virtus’s retinue numbered close to forty people, most of them armoured knights. They were quite fearsome-looking and averaged a high strength in the level 50s.
Virtus was easily identifiable in the centre of the formation, clad in extravagant white-and-gold plate armour. This style also extended to the horse he was riding on, which was similarly armoured. Max actually expected Virtus to ride in a carriage, but it was becoming apparent that he was more of a military man who disliked those sorts of formal things. Regardless, he rode quite well.
As for himself, Max was blessed with a great amount of horseback experience due to his time in Hero of Liberation, but most players would have none at all. Remembering this, he looked to the side, where Lemonade was currently sharing a horse with Dahlia... Maybe that guy was blessed in another way, because Max had never seen a man happier to lack horsemanship ability.
—That victorious smile lololol
—Lucky b*stard
—So, this was the true purpose of health potions...
—I know how to ride a horse, but from now on I don’t
Of course, the stream chat were still being themselves. Though, there were at least some viewers with sense, the majority of them sharing a common topic:
—PRINCE
—Bro is just casually accompanying the crown prince of a nation
—??? Is it this easy to befriend royals? Ask him for money or something lol
—Why aren’t you talking to the prince? Go talk to him! Benefits!! Capitalize!!!
—Gun, this is a royal decree: you shall change your stream title forthwith
Having a whole bunch of people providing information and suggestions was really helpful; it was like having a bunch of extra brains working for him. Max took one chatter’s suggestion (order) and decided to change the title of his stream to attract more viewers.
[ Accompanying the Eleutherian Prince to Battle ]
...He didn’t have much experience with making titles, so that would have to do for now.
[ Current Viewers: 8,995 ]
His and Lemonade’s viewerships were currently climbing rapidly after Lemonade had amateurishly photoshopped a lemon onto an antiquated U.S. Army recruitment notice and uploaded the result to his social media accounts. The post captions gave minimal explanation, only briefly mentioning the prince and inviting players to a large-scale battle which would supposedly soon commence inside Novus Forest. Nonetheless, they would likely attract a large amount of attention, since Lemonade had a large following which numbered in the millions.
“Gun! Where are you?” A familiar voice called from ahead.
‘The prince?’ Max realised Virtus was calling for him. ‘Ah damn, I still haven’t thought of anything.’
Max had been trying to think of ways to build a closer relationship with the prince, which would help him secure more missions in the future, but his nature was that of a wholly unsocial person who only left the house for necessities, so he didn’t really know how to do that. ‘Well, I’ll just try to make myself useful.’
“Hup.” He spurred his horse to move forward. “I’m over here!”
“Why are you hiding back there? Stay near me from now on.” Virtus ordered as Max pulled up, “For some reason, you’re strangely hard to locate.”
Max looked around at the sea of brunette knights. ‘I literally have red hair.’
“You should wear a hat in the future to make yourself more prominent,” Virtus continued, unaware of Max’s thoughts.
‘Red hair, no armour, and the only one holding a bow.’
Max looked behind him to glance at Lemonade, who appeared to be listening in. Lemonade’s eyes widened and he vigorously shook his head, as if telling Max not to do something. Only then did Max fully register what the prince had just said, and a smile slowly spread across his face.
“I do have a hat, but it’s not entirely proper. Is that still alright?”
“Yes, whatever works; it’s just so you stand out a bit more.”
Max took the hat out of his inventory and slowly placed it on top of his head.
“...Well, it certainly stands out.” The prince gave a wry smile.
—LMAOO
—Cowboy Gun?!?!
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
—The way he moved it so slowly to his head, knowing he’s in the wrong lmao
—What am I watching rn lol
“Apologies, it’s all I have for now.” Max carefully concealed his delight. “That aside, did you have something to ask me?”
“Yes, I have a few questions. First, how’s the bow? Is it to your liking?”
“It’s fantastic!” Max smiled. “It’s much more powerful than my previous one. While it’s a bit difficult for me to handle at my current strength, it should suit me well after I gain a few levels. In the meantime, I’ll work to uncover any secrets it might have.”
He recalled the bow’s suspiciously uninformative description:
Item: ????
Grade: ????
Draw Weight / Damage: 200
Durability: ????/????
Description: A faded-red bow of unknown origin.
“Secrets indeed.” Virtus scrutinised the bow. “Well, I’m glad you like it. You needn’t worry about using its full power yet, since I doubt that would be possible prior to reaching level 20.”
Max looked at him. ‘...Come to think of it, just how strong is the prince?’
He decided to take a peek at Virtus’s details.
[ Human: ‘????’, Level: ????, Threat Level: ???? ]
‘...Well that was unhelpful.’ Max frowned.
“Hm? Did you try to appraise me just now?” Virtus raised an eyebrow.
‘Wha-? He can tell?!’
Max fumbled for a response, “Ah, I’m sorry. That’s not considered offensive in this world, is it?”
“No, not particularly, but many people elect to keep that information private.” Virtus smirked and lifted a necklace from his collar. “I am one of those people; I wear a high-grade anti-appraisal artefact wherever I go, so my information can’t be seen by anyone – not even cowboys such as yourself.”
“I see. That’s rather shrewd of you.” Max sighed in relief, thanking his lucky stars that the prince wasn’t an easily irritable person.
“...”
A short silence enveloped the two, as neither person spoke.
‘...Or maybe he is?! Urk. Topic change... Topic change... Blank... Guh. Damn it, why is talking so hard sometimes when with Rone it always feels so effortless?’ Max lamented his lack of social skills. ‘No, wait, didn’t he say he has questions for me?’
Beeeep!
‘Oh good, he got a phone call.’ Max exhaled. ‘...Wait, medieval people don’t have phones though?’
Max watched on in confusion as Virtus took a crystal bead out of his pocket which shined a vivid red light in all directions. ‘Oh, right. I forgot about those.’
“Drat...” Without any further explanation, Virtus tapped the bead with his finger and held it out in front of him. “Father! Wonderful that you called. How are you doing this fine evening?”
“Come back, now.” A sonorous voice rang through the bead, loud enough for Max to hear clearly even from his position several metres away.
“Ahaha. Father, you needn’t be like that. I’m sure Sophia has filled you in on the details; it’s just a few weak orcs. Plus, I’ve already secured a great amount of-”
“Virtus.”
“...”
“I know exactly what you’re doing, and I’m also aware of the reason you forwent my signature. You understand perfectly well that I would never have signed off on this.”
Virtus’s expression hardened. “That doesn’t reason that you would be right to do so.”
A loud sigh came from the other end. “It’s too far from the monoliths, Virtus. There’s nothing I can do if things go awry.”
“Then come lead the attack! You could annihilate these orcs if you chose to; I don’t understand why you don’t just-”
“Because I have an entire kingdom to worry about. Should the strongest combatant abandon his post, it leaves every border town exposed to danger. Son, there are times when neglecting the few is necessary to safeguard the many – As my successor, you ought to recognise this.”
Max shifted awkwardly. ‘Am I supposed to be listening to this right now, or should I like... leave?’
It felt like he had accidentally tuned in to a TV political drama.
“Spare me the sophistry! You could come here by fast horse while saving the monolith for emergencies, but you don’t. You don’t because you’re just a selfish coward who cares nothing for his subjects. You care only for your personal interests.”
“Is that... really how you see me?”
“Am I mistaken?” Virtus spoke coldly. “Tell me right now that you would prioritise the lives of ten thousand innocents over my lone.”
“.....”
‘Okay, I’m definitely not meant to be hearing this.’ Max pulled away from Virtus. Not so far as to be out of hearing range, since his chat would absolutely flame him, but just enough to be polite.
Rather than eavesdrop on the royal family, he planned to read more of the forums but was distracted by an unfamiliar chime...
Ching!
[Oh, I didn’t realise you enabled these. Hello Mr. Gun. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Also, check your damn titles.]
An AI-generated voice spoke directly into Max’s head, like he was wearing some super high-quality headphones.
“Eh? A mechanical voice? Oh!”
Max realised what it probably was and brought up his streaming interface.
[MightSmite has donated $5]
A donation! He completely forgot that Rone set those up. “MightSmite, thank you for the donation. Titles, you say?”
...Come to think of it, he hadn’t checked those for a while. Maybe he had some new ones? In his mind, he hadn’t done anything noteworthy enough to warrant earning any new titles, but this was also the thought he had last time before unveiling about ten of them, so his judgement in this respect was entirely unreliable.
He brought up the tab:
Available Titles:
* 10/10 Talent: Win a solo fight against 10 enemies who are all at least 10 levels higher than you. Effects: +10% all stats
* Could You Like... Die? – Inflict damage ten times on a single enemy. Effects: +5% damage
* Oops, What A Shame: Cause an enemy to fall to their death. Effects: -10% fall damage
* Punching Up (Solo) (3): While alone, kill an enemy 30 levels higher than you. Effects: +30% damage against enemies more than ten levels higher than you.
* I Am The Boss (Solo) --> I Am The Boss (4) (Solo) (First): While alone, kill a BOSS monster 30 levels higher than you. Effects: All stats +30% (60%)
* No It’s Not: Complete an ‘impossible’ ranked mission. Effects: +100 charm
* Disarmer – Knock a weapon out of an enemy’s grasp, Effects: +20% item durability damage
* Antidon’t (First): Prevent an enemy from drinking an antidote potion. Effects: +20% (40%) poison resistance, +20% (40%) poison damage
“...”