Chapter 54
Today, I spent the morning leveling up at the pavilion in the garden.
The pavilion is located in an open area of the garden, away from the villa.
There, with Zoe as my attendant, we were having a mock battle.
With the new addition of Apophis, I had him fight four other figures.
They were all linked to the Armor Ring and materialized to fight.
Of the five, Apophis was the fourth-strongest.
Since awakening, Bahamut has taken the top spot.
The power relationship with Leviathan, who was originally in the first place and fell, has been completely reversed, with Bahamut winning nine times out of ten.
The third is Behemoth, the fourth is Apophis, and the last is Fuwawa.
However, the top two are outstanding, and the bottom three are not so different.
The more of them there are, the more combinations there will be.
As the number of combinations increases, the content and outcome of the fights will also increase exponentially.
It was interesting, and I had been doing mock battles all morning.
In the evening, the level increase was visibly slower than in the morning.
Name: Noah Ararat
Minister of Justice
Gender: Male
Level: 15 / ∞
HP C+E MP E+E Strength C+A Stamina D+E Intelligence E+D Spirit E+D Speed E+E Dexterity E+D Luck E+D Fire E+A Water C+S Wind E+F Earth E+D Light E+C Darkness E+C
I look at my status, which is always in the corner of my vision.
My level has gone up from 10 to 15, and my HP, strength, and water attributes are now C.
But that's only with my power.
"Zoe, check my status."
"As you wish, sir."
I ordered Zoe, who had been standing by my side the whole time, to cast a spell on me.
Name: Noah Ararat
Minister of Justice
Gender: Male
Level: 15 / ∞
HP B MP D Strength SSS Stamina C Intelligence C Spirit C Speed D Dexterity C Luck C Fire S Water SSS Wind E Earth C Light B Darkness B
The magic that Zoe had cast gave her an outwardly visible status, with a "+" correction on top.
"As expected of you, Master. You're getting so strong ..."
"Yes, it is."
This is the result of the addition of Ararat to the fief.
Ararat caused my strength to increase to SSS, with an additional A.
Other statuses are also going up steadily.
My own ability and the "+" from the addition of my subordinates.
The combination of the two has made me stronger in a good way.
If my strength is SSS, I might be able to fight as well as I did in the strongest mode if I'm careful.
While I was looking at the ability and thinking about it, Zoe was still marveling and didn't come back.
"What's the matter, you look so surprised?"
"Oh, I'm surprised. Because level 15 is the top 5% of all Imperial subjects."[TN: SERIOUSLY!]
"... Oh, that's right."
Actually, yes.
Raising the level is really difficult.
In the ancient civilizations that once flourished, there was something called "recovery magic".
Incredibly, this magic could heal human injuries in less than a day.
Thanks to this recovery magic, people were able to fight and improve their skills to the fullest.
Nowadays, it is very difficult to level up, as evidenced by the fact that the royal family's first battle is to carefully "raise" a nest of monsters.
More to the point, nearly half of the human race has a maximum level of less than 10.
I, too, had a maximum level of 8 in my previous life.
"You're so young, but you're already level 15. ... Master is really amazing. ..."
Zoe continued to marvel at my level 15 endlessly.
Later that day, I was doing some research in the study when Don knocked and came in.
"Thank goodness you're still here, Your Highness."
"I was just about to head back to the Inner Garden. ... What's the matter?"
"I am glad that I came now. Because if you go back to the inner garden, I won't be able to get in."
Don was relieved and placed the box on my desk.
"This has been sent for you."
"Fuwawa's box?"
"Yes."
Don nodded, looking straight at the box.
" From what I've heard from His Highness, this is a proper report if it's sent properly."
"Yes, it is."
Fuwawa's box.
The box was made using the power of Fuwawa, and once locked, no one but me could open it.
It was given out to a number of governors and officials so that they could report it directly to me or tip me off.
Incidentally, if you show it off to others as an honor, it will destroy itself immediately.
I received the box with a lock on it.
Carefully touching the box, I tried to open the lock.
"Mu."
"What's wrong?"
"Strange."
"Eh?"
"There is ... something wrong."
When I said something was wrong, I didn't mean something like a guess or a hunch.
Name: Noah Ararat
Minister of Justice
Gender: Male
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Level: 15 / ∞
HP C+E MP E+E Strength C+A Stamina D+E Intelligence E+D Spirit E+D Speed E+E Dexterity E+D Luck E+D Fire E Water C Wind E Earth E Light E Darkness E
The moment I touched the box, all of the "+" attributes in my status disappeared.
I've often gotten "+" when I've gotten things, but this is the first time I've lost it.
Carefully, I opened the box.
Inside was a fist-sized stone and a letter.
I read the letter and furrowed my brow.
"What does it say?"
"The stone is a meteorite, but it seems that the impact of its fall left the word 'naturally' and 'wise' on the surface."
"Ah, ...."
Don furrowed his brow and smiled wryly.
I picked up the stone and looked at it.
On its surface was clearly engraved the character for "wise" of the Wise Prince.
"It's a common practice. Because something like this is found in nature, some people offer it as a good omen. It's not possible for something like this to be produced from scratch."
"..."
"But since it's Your Highness. You knew the moment you picked up the box, right."
I listened to Don's words and stared at the meteorite.
The moment I picked up the box, I knew – status reduction.
It was just a gimmick, or maybe I'd have to add a new feature to the Fuwawa box in the future.
All those thoughts were blown away.
I thought about it for a moment and then pulled out my Leviathan.
I wielded my Water Demon Sword and cut the meteorite in half – at that moment.
Something jumped out of the meteorite.
"Whoa!"
The thing that flew out swelled and Don was flung away by it and slammed into the wall.
It gradually took shape into a wriggling, mottled tentacle.
A tentacle that is both unnamable, ugly, and sinister.
The tentacles begin to rampage.
They pierce the floor and tear down the walls.
In the blink of an eye, they had destroyed half of the office study.
I can see the starry sky beyond the cloud of dust created by the collapse.
"Your Highness!"
"Stay back!"
I ordered Don, who was trying to come towards me, to stand back and held up the Leviathan.
The first thing I did was intimidate the tentacles, which grew in volume as I destroyed them.
" It doesn't work?"
The tentacles didn't seem to slow down at all, they just spooked slightly and continued to destroy more.
In the blink of an eye, the study was almost completely destroyed.
And then, as if there was nothing left to destroy, the tentacles wriggled and came towards me.
"Fuu!"
Using Leviathan, I intercepted the rushing tip with a slash.
"It's hard–but!"
It's not so hard that the blade can't penetrate.
I slashed it with a one-handed slash, and then I took a two-handed stance and put all my strength into it.
From the center of the tentacle, I tore it in a straight line vertically.
One of the tentacles, which looked like entangled lint, was severed, fell to the floor, convulsed, and then stopped moving.
Slashing works!
I held Leviathan at the ready and closed in on the tentacle.
As soon as I dove into its bosom-shaped area, as humans call it, I slashed it wildly with Leviathan.
It was hard, but not as hard as Apophis.
The light blue magic sword cut off the tentacles without mercy.
In about three minutes, I was able to half-destroy the study and slice the giant tentacles into small pieces.
"... Is it over?"
While holding Leviathan, I was a little wary of the remains.
Although I tried to intimidate it, it didn't seem to react, so I put Leviathan away.
"Are you okay?"
"..."
"Don?"
"Eh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. His Highness's swordsmanship is amazing. You could take on a monster like that in an instant."
"Rather, get the man who sent this box and hear what he has to say."
"Yes, sir!"
Don, who had been stunned by the fierce battle, rushed out.