Eurius felt a jolt of excitement as soon as he saw the fallen note.
'I had forgotten about it for a moment because of my achievement as a warrior.'
The most puzzling thing he had to figure out was why the legacy of the player Lee Cheongmun was found in this faraway northern mountain range.
"Nuada! Wait there for a moment, will you?"
Eurius unfolded the note and began to read it with the help of the automatic translation from the system.
[To the one who is connected by fate… I am Baek Wi, one of the leaders of the Golden Army of the Hwan Empire's royal family. At the same time, I am also the head of the White Tiger Group, which has been in charge of protecting the royal family for generations.]
'Hwan Empire?'
Eurius could not hide his curiosity.
The Hwan Empire was one of the two giant nations that received the title of empire along with the Scharnos Empire in both continents!
But someone who was in charge of guarding the royal family of such a place came all the way here and was discovered as a cold corpse. How could he not be curious about this?
[Jujakmumun doesn't seem to know what they are doing. They should have noticed this movement a long time ago.]
Eurius nodded his head as he read the letter.
'Two of Lee Cheongmun's legacies were in the Hwan Empire's royal family.'
According to the letter, two of Lee Cheongmun's legacies, who was known as King of All Weapons, were held by two groups that guarded the royal family.
One of them was the White Tiger Protection Technique that Eurius obtained today!
The warriors who mastered this legacy had extremely enhanced senses and a sturdy defense, making them ideal for guarding important people.
Therefore, the White Tiger Group, which inherited the White Tiger Protection Technique from the Golden Army, was a group that played a role of guardianship.
On the other hand, another legacy that belonged to the royal family was Jujakmumun!
It was a top-secret that only the emperor of Hwan could access, so the name of the specific legacy was not known, but it was known that it was a legacy specialized in infiltration and assassination.
Therefore, Jujakmumun was in charge of the head of the intelligence agency directly under the royal family, and both legacies were symbols of power in the Hwan royal family, representing the emperor's right and left arms.
[There is someone behind the royal family. I couldn't catch their exact identity, but they are not ordinary forces considering that they wiped out our White Tiger Group.]
"…!"
Ding
[Main Quest – You have discovered a dark cloud over the royal family.]
[Main Quest is a quest related to your 'Clear'.]
[Your achievement increases with unlocking information about 'Clear'.]
"Clear?"
Eurius unconsciously let out a hopeful sound.
[Help – Clear: Your ultimate goal as a Player. You need to raise your achievement more to access more detailed information.]
He had been enjoying the benefits of the system so far, but he had no clue about his existence as a Player.
But if he solved this main quest, he might get some hints.
Eurius, with an excited expression, continued to read the note.
[They wore black masks upside down and were persistent. Their outfits looked like mercenaries, but they were definitely not from this continent judging by their martial arts. I desperately boarded a ship heading to Western Continent, but they continued to chase me even there.]
'Where have I seen these guys before?'
Eurius felt something uneasy as he read Baek Wi's note.
'Assassins, black masks, not from this continent?'
Eurius was not stupid. With this much clue, there was only one conclusion!
'Wasn't there a quest about those cultists or whatever?'
They were the ones who tormented him terribly since his previous life, but he felt like something was starting to fit together.
'Desert, Leonhart, cult, Hwan Empire…'
But so far, no concrete link has been found. That would probably be his homework to solve. The note soon reached his end.
[I was lucky enough to escape to this cold mountain range where their hands couldn't reach. But I didn't expect to meet such a beast…]
Eurius clicked his tongue here.
'He was really unlucky. He ran away here by chance, but what he met here was none other than the Steel Armored Snake.'
He must have had a lot of injuries from running away. No matter how much he was the head of a legacy of the Player, it would have been hard to defeat such a beast alone.
[I'm too wounded to survive. I only regret that the legacy left by the King of All Weapons will be lost here…]
He might have been able to live if he had met some northern immigrants, but he ended up dying here.
[I beg you, the one who is connected by fate. Investigate the royal family of Hwan Empire. There must be someone on our side left in the Golden Army…]
That was the end of the note.
Eurius had no choice but to fall into a dilemma.
'I got some information about the Player, which is good, but how do I get to the Eastern Continent?'
If he was a merchant or a normal knight, he could find a way somehow. Even if he was a high noble, he could go there under the pretext of a tour.
But his status was too high for that.
'I have to complete the quest anyway since it's a main quest…'
"Hey, how long are you going to rest?"
Nuada's whining voice made Eurius stop his thoughts and get up.
"I'm sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment."
'First of all, getting everything I can from the north is the top priority.'
He had an immediate goal. He could worry about it later after achieving that goal, and anyway, didn't he get a big benefit today?
If he kept unraveling the threads like this, he would eventually reach the truth he wanted.
"I need to dismantle this thing first."
"I should call the warriors."
"I'll help too."
Eurius carefully carved out the neck area that he had torn open.
'As expected, it's quite big since it's been around for a long time.'
What he took out from the corpse of the beast was a stone the size of an adult man's fist that emitted a golden glow.
'I expected it from the size of the snake, but this is the first time I am seeing an S-grade force stone.'
Force stones could form naturally, but they could also be created by the accumulation of force inside very old beasts.
They were called 'naedan' in the East.
"Nuada! You have a right to this too. How do you want to split it?"
But Nuada didn't seem to care much about it.
"If you need that, take it. But I'm more tempted by this body."
The corpses of beasts did not rot easily.
The leather, which was sturdy and light, could be used to make armor that was good for activities in the north, and the meat from this huge body was also a good food source for the immigrants.
On the other hand, Eurius didn't need any other parts except for the naedan of the beast. He wasn't going to stay in the north for long.
Even if the leather was sturdy, he could get better armor anytime as an emperor of the empire.
"Then I'll be satisfied with this naedan alone. The rest is yours, people of the Thunder Rock Tribe."
'This is also quite a fortune.'
Eurius smiled contentedly.
From Nuada's perspective, who was responsible for the tribe, the body was more valuable. But an S-grade force stone was a treasure that was hard to get even with money in the continent.
'It's not very useful for me, but it would be good to give it to Beatrix or some other talented person later.'
Eurius had already raised his force aptitude from the basics to almost the limit and started training.
The output of force was a problem that time could solve, and he had Overheat that could temporarily increase his output if he was in a hurry, so he didn't need it right away.
"Then let's start dismantling!"
Eurius called his knights and Nuada called his warriors.
"I can't believe there was such a big beast here!"
"It really fell, the ruler of Needle Mountain?"
Both sides were amazed by the corpse of the Steel Armored Snake and couldn't help but chatter.
But work came first.
The corpse of the beast was skinned and cut into pieces and moved to the village of the Thunder Rock Tribe, where another grand festival was held.
"We don't have to worry about the damage to our village during its rampage anymore!"
"Maybe he's a messenger sent by the mountain god, not just a foreigner?"
Now, the people of the Thunder Rock Tribe also looked at Eurius with a faint respect instead of a wary gaze at first.
As they said, strength was law in the north.
He not only defeated their chief, but also brought down a beast that was almost like a divine punishment to them, so they naturally looked at him with awe.
There were many variables, but Eurius also managed to gain Nuada's and the northern immigrants' trust splendidly.
The knights of the north also seemed to have adapted well unlike their initial awkwardness.
"I was surprised when they said it was monster meat, but it's much better than chewing jerky!"
"It seems like not all barbarians are alike as His highness said."
Eurius had them help with hunting or dismantling prey while staying in the village for a few days to hunt for beasts.
The knights of the north were mostly commoners and had easygoing personalities. They didn't seem to have much difficulty adapting.
'In my previous life, I got along well with them eventually. Why would it be different this time?'
There was a difference in ethnicity, but there were many similarities between rough knights who rolled around in battlefields in the north and mountain warriors who trained by running around mountains.
He smiled contentedly as he watched his knights mingle with warriors.
'There won't be any noise from failing to get along when we move as allies later!'
'There were many unexpected variables, but I got everything I wanted and even obtained a legacy of the Player.'
Eurius looked at the south of the empire from atop a mountain.
More than half of the unexpected events he experienced in the north were clearly influenced by Grand Duke.
To be honest, he admired Grand Duke's ability to shake up the northern immigrants and start a war in the north as soon as Eurius arrived.
'But in this life, I have a lot of things that he doesn't know.'
That was his memory of his previous life and his ability as a Player! He was able to overcome this crisis by using these two things well.
His external recognition and ability were incomparable to his past. If he returned to the capital, he would be involved in a huge political fight that was different from now.
'I have to prepare well for that.'
He twisted the north a lot, but he eventually made the big situation flow as it was. It would be the same for other places. He still had a lot of memories from his previous life that he could use.
Eurius thought that this was the real beginning.
'Grand Duke! Let's fight again properly when I go to the capital this time.'