Tristan gaped. He blinked several times, making sure his eyes weren't looking wrong. The transparent blue screen floated in front of him.
"It turns out I will get a reward after passing the penalty." Tristan muttered. That wasn't the only thing that surprised him. "This is the first time the system has asked me whether I want to receive the reward or not."
The System never failed to surprise Tristan.
Tristan glanced at the white horse with golden hair who was looking at him.
Then he looked back, and he saw that Knight Ajax and the white-bearded old man were looking straight at him. Tristan was sure they hadn't heard his mumbling, as they were quite far away.
"Will you try riding it, Your Majesty?" The white-bearded man repeated his question because the king had not answered him, and the king's focus was broken when the king received news that hundreds of young people were demonstrating in front of his palace.
"Yes, of course." Tristan nodded. Then his gaze locked on the stallion again. "I haven't found a suitable name for you yet."
Tristan had no prior experience naming people or animals because he had never had an animal and had never been married.
He needed to choose a name that matched the horse's appearance.
"I have to give you a name before I claim you as mine." Tristan stroked his chin, and his eyebrows knitted together. He studied the horse. "Shine. Yellow. White. Gold."
He scratched his head. "It would be strange if I gave him a color name."
The knight Ajax wanted to help his king, who looked very confused, but the king did not ask him to help determine a suitable name for his new horse.
Meanwhile, the white-bearded old man waited patiently. Then he felt that the king was a little different, when he was little, the king didn't take long to give his horse a name. Maybe the king still couldn't completely forget Max.
"Golden." Tristan's eyes widened. "Your name is Golden." His index finger pointed at the white stallion with golden hair. "Don't forget, your name is Golden."
Tristan was very relieved, he finally found a name for his horse, and Golden seemed to like his name. The stallion made a sound while nodding his head.
"He's not in a trance, right?" Tristan asked the white-bearded old man.
"No, Your Majesty. He was expressing his happiness." The old man shook his head. "Did you hear the sound of his hooves hitting the floor?" Tristan nodded. "Believe me, his tail is wagging tight."
Tristan rounded his lips.
The white-bearded old man opened the stable door and brought out the white horse with golden hair that the king had chosen as his new horse.
Tristan looked at the horse, which was slightly taller than him. His heart was beating so fast that he was nervous and afraid. He remembered Max's rampage and how painful it was for him to fall to the ground after falling off the horse.
Tristan hesitantly stroked Golden's head. The stallion did not move. Then he brushed the horse's golden hair and patted its shoulder.
"Golden, I hope you become a good horse. I look forward to my happy days with you." Tristan put his forehead against Golden's and stroked the horse's face, The stallion was very calm, just like Max.
Suddenly feeling embarrassed, Tristan realized that his words sounded strange. His last sentence was as if he was talking to a woman.
The white-bearded old man strapped the equestrian equipment to Golden's back and secured the reins. He took great care because the horse belonged to the king.
Tristan rides Golden. The stallion walked slowly around the spacious stall. The other horses, who had not yet found their master, looked at them with sad eyes.
Tristan didn't ask Golden to run because he believed the old man's words, and another reason was that he wanted to know what reward he would get from the system.
***
"All the demonstrators have left the palace without experiencing violence or harassment from the palace soldiers, Your Majesty." Knight Aiden reported to his king that the palace had returned to peace.
"Great job. Thank you very much," said Tristan to his knight. He really hoped that the merchant, farmers and hundreds of young people would not return to his palace. He really didn't want to meet them.
"I beg you, I want to live in peace." Tristan begs the gods to listen and grant his prayers. He should have appealed to the Human God most widely worshiped by his people.
Tristan Madigan did not worship any gods. Like him, he also did not believe in God because he felt that God had allowed him to be slandered, leading to his imprisonment.
Tristan raised his head to face straight ahead; the transparent blue screen had not yet disappeared from his sight.
Tristan glanced at dozens of rolls of paper from his people and several documents from the ministers, but his curiosity was much greater, and this made him lazy about carrying out his duties as a king.
"I will read them later." Tristan has decided to postpone his work.
He looked at his two knights standing three steps behind him. This high chair prevented them from seeing him, Tristan just had to sit up straight and look straight ahead.
In this throne room, there were only Tristan and his two knights. Only they knew that the king was lost in thought and had abandoned his responsibilities for a while.
The spacious and luxurious room seemed scary and gloomy. If the two knights weren't guarding him, Tristan wouldn't dare sit alone on his throne, he'd rather sit on a garden chair.
Tristan looked back at the transparent blue screen floating in the air. He had to answer the system's questions.
"I accept it." Tristan didn't know if that was the right answer.
[Here is the reward you get: Sharp Hearing.]
[This skill will improve your hearing. While using this skill, you will have difficulty concentrating.]
"I don't know if that skill is useful for me."
Tristan tried to use that skill.
[You activated your sharp hearing skill.]
All sounds could be picked up by Tristan's sense of hearing, making his head dizzy.
He could hear the maids talking and laughing in the kitchen and in the garden, General Tamothy who was giving instructions to the palace soldiers, and the sound of two swords clashing.
"This skill really makes me unable to concentrate."
Tristan shook his head. He asked the system to stop the skill before his head exploded.
"Luckily, I didn't hear the sound of ants."
Tristan rested his elbows on the arm of the chair and rested his cheek against his palm. He pondered.
"I'm not very happy about getting those two skills. I don't know what the use of either of them is."
Tristan scratched his cheek.
"Skill to scare the opponent and sharp hearing. At least, I already know the uses and drawbacks of the sharp hearing skill, even though I don't know if I will use it."
Tristan nodded. Maybe he wouldn't need the skills to scare the opponent, either.
,
"But if that skill can make me intimidate my opponent, I'll consider using it."
A question popped into his head. This kingdom has no enemies. For decades, this kingdom was not attacked by other kingdoms or attacked other kingdoms first.
Tristan won't fight anyone. When he was practicing fighting with his two knights or generals, he didn't need to activate the skill to scare the opponent.
"God of judgment."
Tristan has a new question for the system. He wanted to ask if the god who gave him the chance to reincarnate and put him in Tristan Madigan's body was the God of Judgment.
"System, when will I get a reward like the first reward you gave me? If you're never going to give me a reward like that again, at least answer my question."
Tristan was furious. The system really sucks.
"Your Majesty."
Tristan immediately sat up straight, looked straight ahead, and put on a firm face when a palace soldier standing in front of the throne room knocked on the door and asked permission to enter.
"What happened?" Tristan tensed. A general and five soldiers bowed to him after offering him respectful greetings.
"Your Majesty, we have bad news," said the general. "One of the regions in the Kavar Kingdom is experiencing an outbreak. Hundreds of people there have been attacked by the plague. What is worrying about this case is that the area is near the border of our kingdom."