{A/N: Here's the extra chapter for the comments and powa stones last time.... And same deal more powa stones and comments = extra chapters}
"Young Lord, will you be heading straight to Odin's temple for the awakening, or would you like to have breakfast first?" Astrid asked, her tone formal, accompanied by a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Her body language was perfectly respectful, a trained, automatic response after Vaitas greeted her.
"Hmmm...?" Vaitas rubbed his chin, pretending to think it over, though in reality, he'd planned every single detail of today about a week ago.
"There's plenty of time until the awakening ceremony," he said, feigning deep consideration. "But you know what? Let's head out right now."
"As you wish," Astrid replied without any hesitation or hint of emotion. Her face was as blank as ever, void of anything resembling feeling.
Ever since her daughter went missing, Astrid wore that same dead expression. It had become part of her, like a mask she couldn't remove.
Astrid moved swiftly, grabbing two thick, medieval-style winter coats. Both were black, designed without buttons since Scandinavia hadn't adopted them yet, and even on the mainland, they weren't widely used.
The coats were fastened with straps instead, a more rudimentary but effective design for the harsh northern winters.
"Let's go," Vaitas said, throwing on his coat with a practiced motion. It wasn't his home to begin with, so he didn't bother much with decorations. The place was minimal, almost barren.
But then again, who needs a lavish home when you've stolen it?
Remember back in chapter two when I mentioned bro got a family of seven murdered? Yeah, this was their house.
Vaitas had no issue staying here, sleeping on the same bed where the family had been butchered. He considered it a five-star experience. Twisted, but at least he found his comforts.
...
As they stepped outside, the chill hit them immediately. The streets were blanketed in thick snow, at least 4 centimeters deep—far more than what you'd expect from a normal snowfall.
{A/N: Yeah, 4 cm is bigger than normal.... 😌}
"Looks like it snowed more than usual last night," Vaitas remarked, stepping from the house onto the snowy street. The crunch under his boots was oddly satisfying, like breaking a thin layer of ice.
"Seems so," Astrid said in her usual cold, detached voice. She moved beside him, her eyes scanning the surroundings with the same emotionless gaze she always had, as if nothing in this world could ever affect her again.
So, both of them left the house. On their way, they encountered many people heading to their work—some were hunters, herb gatherers, shopkeepers.
Though it was a little foggy, the fog wasn't thick enough to block the sunlight, so everyone went about their business as usual.
As they walked, everyone seemed to greet Vaitas without fail, even if they forgot to acknowledge Astrid. After all, lil bro was the so-called "Saint." Pffffft.
While the townsfolk's greetings didn't matter to Vaitas, he was more interested in something else. For some reason, he could see black numbers floating above people's heads, representing their fortune points.
The average person seemed to have around 15 fortune points, and the highest number he had seen so far belonged to Astrid, who had around 46. Not bad, but not enough to impress him.
According to the system's info, the fortune points of protagonists would appear in gold, and the system would notify him when he encountered a protagonist, heroine, or anyone significant.
"Hey! Isn't that big brother Vaitas?" He overheard some kids who had woken up early to play, talking about him. "He's the one who bought the antidote when my father was bitten by a snake!"
A little girl was praising Vaitas, completely unaware that this "big brother" was the one who orchestrated the snake bite in the first place.
Like I said, bro is a fucking menace.
He doesn't love anyone because he's got no attachment to anyone. So what if a woman is pretty? She's just a piece of flesh. Beauty fades eventually.
So what if someone loves him? He didn't ask for anyone's love. He didn't ask anyone to look after him, did he?
You can't expect loyalty or love from him when all he sees in people are pawns. And when a pawn outlives its usefulness, it's time to discard it and find a new one.
He has one goal, and that's all that matters.
Some of you might wonder if his goal is eternal life.
No.
What's the point of eternal life without absolute power? And what's the point of absolute power without eternal life?
Vaitas wants both—he wants to be a true immortal and invincible.
In short, lil bro wants to be omnipotent.
As they continued walking, they finally came across a group of young people around Vaitas's age.
The moment Vaitas laid eyes on one boy with black hair and blue eyes, he internally smiled like the devil, while on the surface, he smiled like an angel.
{Fortune Points: 690 (Protagonist detected)}
These were the words that appeared above the boy's head.