Oscar was irritated.
He sat in a large pub, with drunkards abound and women surrounding him.
There were at least 5 or 6 of them clinging to him. It was not because these women were hostesses or prostitutes who were paid to this sort of work. It was because Oscar had a certain charm to him that the women in the bar could not resist. He was by far the best looking man in this world. It was not that the people of this world were ugly, but rather that Oscar himself was among the top even in his world. And his manipulative personality only added to his looks, when it came to controlling women.
Some of the drunkards stared at Oscar with cold eyes through their drunkenness knowing that he had scooped up the women from them like a magnet as he entered the tavern.
Oscar stared spitefully at the beer in front of him.
It was not one that he had created using his commands. It was on that he had bought from the bar using the money the king provided him with.
"Stop being so clingy you bitches! I'm trying to drink in peace!"
Oscar tried to shake off the women.
"Don't be like that, mister..."
"Hey, what's your name?"
"He's so hot even when he's angry..."
The women who had been shaken off persisted to bother him.
"You don't have the right to ask my name"
The women all swooned as he said this.
Oscar was not in the mood right now for women.
For some reason, whenever he tried to use the command [Create Beer], it would respond with [Beer has been locked. You may no longer use any commands related to this item]
What was the reason for this?
Had he created too much beer so that he was no longer able to do so?
Did this mean that his abilities had some sort of limitation as to how much he could do? Or perhaps something had happened to create this change.
Oscar would have to be more careful from now on.
As Oscar was thinking this, he took a chug of the low quality beer sitting in front of him.
He wiped off his mouth.
It was nowhere close to the golden fluid that he had produced before.
"Why don't you come with me tonight Oscar?"
"No, he will be coming with me~"
"Stop being greedy. He is mine tonight"
These women were getting too rowdy.
Oscar stood up to leave when a guard walked into the tavern.
The guard knelt before Oscar, who still had all the women clinging to him, and held out a scroll.
"Indeterminant, Sir! The Royal Court has summoned you for a hearing. I am very sorry to disturb you in your activities, but the nobles appear to be increasingly angry with you! They have even made claims that you are slacking off from your duty and that you need to be held accountable! I personally cannot believe their impudence, but I request that you go see them and clear up the misunderstanding immediately!"
"Ehhh... this guy is the Indeterminant that I have been hearing about... so cool!"
"Wow! You're like, a hero! No wonder you're so good looking!"
Oscar managed to shake all the woman off.
"I could use a chance to blow off some steam", he whispered under his breath.
So, the guard led Oscar back to the royal palace where the meeting was to be held.
----
Oscar arrived at the castle and was brought in by a company of soldiers. They all stood in rows on either side, holding up flags in order to form a respectful procession.
Oscar walked down the aisle to where the nobles were in stands on the side, and the king sat up front on his throne.
Oscar heard some whispering among the nobles.
"To make the king wait for him..."
"Who does this man think he is..."
"And to be slacking off with women and drinking..."
"The nerve..."
"Some legendary hero..."
Oscar shot the crowd a fierce look and they quickly quieted down.
It seemed that he had neglected his reputation here. That was no matter. He only needed to show these impudent nobles who had the power here.
He made a flashy show of kneeling before the king before speaking.
"My king. What is it that you have called me here for?"
The nobles once more whispered.
"To speak first to the king like that..."
"Unbelievable"
"SILENCE! The Indeterminant is the one who will make the Ruthobold Kingdom great! Do you fools not realize that you are treading dangerous waters by potentially angering him and making him an enemy of the Kingdom!?"
The king spoke harsh words towards the nobles.
"Please forgive us for making you come all the way here, but some nobles were growing impatient with your progress. I will have to ask you for a report on how your search for the legendary heroes fares."
Upon hearing this, Oscar recalled his true goal.
He had been moping over the beer for the past day, but he almost forgot that he had a larger goal here.
The night before, he had been thinking on this goal, and his plan to take over the world, and he had received a message from the system that gave him a hint as to the location of the hero from the Ruthobold kingdom.
[Quest Received: Find the heroes. 0/4]
[Hint: The hero of the Ruthobold kingdom is one of the sons of the King,]
"Your highness, I have indeed found something out from my pursuits. While to the nobles it may have appeared that I was simply lavishing in drunken pleasures, I was indeed gathering information from the lower parts of society. If one is to get some work done, they must be willing to get their hands dirty, otherwise they are nothing more than a mere hypocrite who will let others do the dirty work for them while looking down on those who take the burden up themselves."
These comments were followed by more murmuring and displeasure among the nobles.
"What have you discovered?"
"The hero is among your sons, your majesty."
"NONSENSE! I WILL NOT HAVE ANY MORE OF THIS HERETIC!!"
One of the nobles began shouting out.
"You dare to say that one of his majesty's precious sons is to go off to war for you against the monsters? Blasphemous!!! I have had enough of this false hero. I refuse to believe that he showed the guards as much power as he did, it must have been an exaggeration! Your majesty, there is no further need to listen to this drunken fool! Let us execute him here and await the true Indeterminant!"
"Why you! Silence!!! Before you are the one who is placed on the stand!", the king replied to the noble.
Things were becoming chaotic.
The nobles began discussing the legitimacy of the man who claimed to be the Indeterminant among themselves.
"Hold up just a minute."
Oscars voice was not exactly loud, but it carried enough force to shut everyone up.
Oscar waltzed over to the noble who had started the chaos.
"You said that you do not believe my power? Mr... what is your name?"
The noble froze with Oscar in front of him, intimidating him like this, but he would not stand being looked down on by this man who didn't seem to be doing anything for his Kingdom.
"How dare you speak with me in such a tone! Do you think I will so easily give my name to a mere commoner like you!?"
"I am of the rank Duke, actually. Now, state your name for me."
"Grr... fine. I will state my name so that you may remember and fear my house, you false hero, for we will be the ones to reveal your lies! I am Lancelot Harxeau, of the proud Harxeau noble family line! Do not forget this name!"
Oscar smiled devilishly at Lancelot.
What a funny name. This man, who was skinny and feeble, but with a sharp tongue and attitude, named after a knight? He was anything but.
"Then, allow me to show everyone here my power, so that you all will no longer doubt me as the true hero of the human race.! My king, do I have permission to do so?"
"Do as you please. Please try to keep the damage to a minimum."
And with that, Oscar used a command.
[\destroy Castle Ceiling]
The ceiling of the castle then crumbled into ashes, which then faded into nothingness. It was mysterious and horrifying, and all the nobles watched as the ceiling disappeared above them.
"Do you all now see my power? I have control over the very fabric of reality itself. In an instant, I can replace that which I have just destroyed."
The nobles were struck with awe.
This man had just made the ceiling of this grand castle fade into nothing, without even lifting a finger.
"Well, then. If I may burden you so, may you please place back the roof?"
"Of course. Give me just a moment to recuperate. I cannot use my abilities in such quick succession."
"I see...."
The nobles all whispered.
"So he has limitations? He can't just do anything he wants"
This was not actually the case. Oscar could have immediately restored the roof back to its condition.
Instead, he input a few more commands.
[\change weather: Thunderstorm]
[\lightning strike. Set coordinates: Lancelot Harxeau]
Rain began to pour down like the floodgates had been opened.
"Agh! Its raining in here! Place the roof back as quickly as you can!", one of the nobles shouted.
"Just a moment more so that I may recuperate my energy!", Oscar replied.
BOOM!!!
A flash of lightning struck Lancelot.
He was fried to a crisp in an instant. He died on the spot.
"AGH!!!!!"
A single scream was all he had time to let out.
Plop
And he fell to the ground, dead.
[\restore Castle Ceiling]
The roof then came back into reality, forming the ash first then collecting together to form the ceiling.
"My goodness!!!"
"Lord Harxeau!! He is dead!!!"
Oscar put on a distressed face.
"What!?"
He ran over to where the body was, and pretended to be remorseful.
"How can this be!? Just as I had proven my abilities to him... to think he would die such an unexpected death!!"
Oscar began to fake some tears at the sight of the dead man.
"Forgive me your majesty! Had I known that lightning would strike this place at that instant, I would never have removed the ceiling! What are the odds of such an unfortunate event happening!?"
The nobles all stared silently at the scene of Oscar holding the crisped body of Lord Harxeau.
"He does not appear to have the foresight to predict such things... while he is not all powerful, he certainly meant no harm to lord Harxeau..."
"No fault lies with you, Indeterminant. It was mere bad luck that lightning struck. Even more importantly, the roof might have been damaged by that lightning just now had you not removed it. Many more people could have been killed or injured by falling debris if you had not removed it at that time. No fault lies with you!" The king stated.
The nobles all seemed to trust and believe the king and Oscar now.
After all, there was no way someone could control or predict the weather, so they did not suspect him in the least of committing murder.
Even the Indeterminant had limits. Right?
"Even so, your majesty! This man has died! What of his family!? The guilt lies with me for his death! Please, your majesty! I beg of you, allow me to take his place among his family to support them!"
"It is true that without a father his child will not grow up properly... fine then. I permit you to take this mans place as a husband and father in order to pay him back for his unexpected death."
"Thank you, your majesty!"
The whispering tone of the nobles changed.
"Perhaps he truly is a hero"
"Taking care of the family of a dead man... something that only a true hero would consider"
"What a man of justice"
"I ask you that you allow me to take the body and take responsibility for this man's funeral as well."
"If you are willing to do so, then I leave it up to you. Guards! Place the body in a coffin and prepare it for transport to the Harxeau household!"
Two guards quickly left, and soon came back with a large wooden coffin. They placed the body of Harxeau in the coffin and left immediately.
After this the court resumed as normal. The nobles did not seem to be overly perturbed by the death of another noble. This was because the nobles were all in heavy competition with each other for political power, and as such did not mind the removal of an opponent.
"Now then. Indeterminant, regarding the matter of the hero. I will gather my sons... will tomorrow be alright? When you meet them, perhaps you will find out which one of them is the hero of this country."
"I have no issues with that, your majesty."
"Then, assuming nobody wishes to say anything else, I permit you to leave. I will have the guards escort you to the Harxeau estate, where you will begin living from now on.
"Many thanks, your majesty"
Nobody made any further statements.
Oscar walked out of the room with the guards in tow.
"All according to plan"
----
"Well, I suppose we will be staying in this hut for now. I would like to build us a better base using my craftsman abilities, but space isn't exactly a concern due to our... circumstances"
Garett was speaking to Claire and Elder, who of course already knew about the 3 meter party range constriction.
"I will sleep in a smaller hut. For now, I'm going to call it for the night. Please wake me up if you need anything. I have high hopes for you all.", Claire said as she left the hut.
The elder bowed and took his leave as well.
The larger hut where they were staying had a table in the center of it, and in the surrounding perimeter of the hut there were some straw mattresses wrapped in cloth to form straw beds. The elder had repeatedly apologized for the lack of quality furnishing, however Garett and his party members did not take it too seriously as an issue.
Ashley was used to sleeping on the floor after playing games all night and not even having the energy to move.
Garett had previously lived in a dorm with many people, and often found his bed to be taken due to the rowdy parties that the roommates he had would throw. People would be lying all over the place drunk, and Garett would just suck it up and sleep on the floor wherever was available.
For Trevor and Samantha, sleeping on the floor was something new to them, but they had been so exhausted the previous night after the battle with Algorithanus that they fell asleep then and there on the concrete arena.
If they were able to do that, then this was a piece of cake.
They all were about to head to sleep, when Garett had an idea.
"!"
Garett quickly used his [Toolbox] skill and pulled a tape measure out of thin air.
He measured the diameter of the hut.
Considering that 3m was the radius which they were stuck to each other, they would be able to move freely about that radius, even when someone was asleep.
Garett came up with 4.5 m as the diameter of the hut.
Perfect.
He got to work, and motioned to the rest of the party members to follow him. They were confused, but they did as they were asked.
Garett took out a saw and began to chop down a tree. He worked diligently, at an amazing speed, even for a master craftsman, and quickly produced many wooden planks.
He threw them over to the three, and asked them "Help me take these back to the hut!"
Samantha looked a bit irked for such a delicate woman to be forced to do physical labor, but in the situation they were in she had no place to complain.
Soon enough, they had brought a few loads of wood back to the hut, and Garett began once more to craft an outhouse quite close to the entrance of the hut.
"There we go"
Now, they would not have to wake the other party members up in the middle of the night even if they had to relieve themselves.
"Good thinking." Trevor said.
It wasn't pretty, just like before, but it got the job done.
And with this, the party all went to their straw beds and tried to fall asleep. It would be a busy day of leveling up and discovering new things tomorrow. Assuming they could survive, that is.
----
The four were laying down, some laid on their sides and the others laid on their backs staring at the ceiling of the hut.
"I..."
Ashley started to speak quietly.
"I don't want to hurt anyone innocent... but... I have a lot of hatred towards people. I want to see the people who stand on pedestals and are loved by all for having a pretty face or some nice words burn. I can't stand people who do nothing and get rewarded for it. I also can't stand the people who condescend towards others. They're the worst... I would like to see them all die..."
Ashley was a shut in. She may have been lazy, but that laziness never got her any reward. She hated the people who were lucky enough to be lazy yet still get rewarded.
This happens often in society.
There are a number of people working on an assignment or a project. One person does all the work. Everyone else just sits back and relaxes, saying the due date isn't until a few weeks from now.
A few days from now.
A few hours from now.
A few minutes from now.
A few seconds from now.
Now.
Ashley had originally gone to school.
She did her work.
She studied.
She had a bright future.
Why did everything change to become so dark?
She realized the meaningless of her effort.
Whenever she was in high school, say there was a group project.
She would do the entire thing by herself because nobody else would be willing to work on it until the day before it was due. If she let others do it, they would screw over her entire grade, so she had to take things into her own hands.
Even so, the other idiots who fooled around would get the same grade as her.
When there were presentations to do in class, she would stiffen up.
Her mouth would move, but words wouldn't come out.
Her heart would freeze.
She would begin hyperventilating.
She would end up coming off the stage without having said a single word.
"I'm sorry but I can't give you any points for that. You're going to have to get a 0 on the presentation portion."
Her group members would go up to do their parts.
They would laugh and joke, not even taking things seriously.
They had reviewed the project the night before, and Ashley was the one who did all the work in making it.
And yet, they would get full points on the verbal portion.
Due to her hard work, the group would receive a 96% on the written portion for both Ashley and her group mates.
Because the written portion and the presentation portion had equal weights, this would mean that Ashley, who did all the work, would get a whopping 48% on the project.
Her groupmates, who did nothing but look at the project the night before and spur out some garbage while laughing and being charismatic, would receive 98% on their final grades.
To Ashley, it seemed that the very core of society was bent against her.
She was not rewarded for hard work or effort. And others were rewarded for being good at something that she could never hope to achieve, despite the fact that they hadn't worked for even a second.
Then, Ashley grew older, passed high school after much effort, and went out to find a job.
But, she couldn't.
She couldn't speak during the interviews.
"Your resume here DOESN'T say that you have good communication skills. Nor does it say that you're a good people person, or that you are a team player. I'm sorry but were going to have to decline any opportunity of getting hired."
"Its true that you might be able to do the job properly, but does that even matter if you aren't able to speak with the customers? Go work somewhere else."
"We have no need for people who aren't looking to improve themselves."
"You don't have 7 years of experience when applying for this entry level job? HA! As if we would even look at your resume."
Criticism after criticism.
Her parents had eventually stopped providing for her, and dumped her off on the old family friend.
"I'll give her a place to live until she can pick herself up again and learn to become a functioning member of society.", the old landlady said.
But that never happened.
Ashley just lived day to day off the snacks that she was provided.
Once in a while the landlady would even get games for her.
Ashley, of course, at first made a legitimate effort to try to work, but after being denied and ridiculed over and over for being who she was, she couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm done with this" she said to herself.
"You're not good enough. You're not good enough. You need to try harder. You need to do better. You need to BE better. AGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK ALL THIS!!!!! FUCK THOSE PEOPLE AT THE INTERVIEWS!!!! FUCK THOSE JACKASSES WHO WALK IN UNPREPARED, TELL A FEW JOKES AND GET HIRED!!!! FUCK EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why is society so bent against me!?!?!? Why can't they just give me a damn chance!?!?!?!"
And with that, she became a complete shut in.
"Don't worry.", Garett responded to Ashley's statement about wanting to see those people burn.
"We wont hurt anyone innocent anymore. But we will make the pompous people of this world regret their existence."
Garett let out a sly chuckle as he said this.
And with that, the next day came.
----