Kael let out a sigh, rubbing his temples in resignation.
"I'll see what I can do. Tomorrow, or maybe the day after, I'll let you know if it's possible. Until then, prepare yourself as if it is—and of course, Luna will go with you." He cast a glance at the woman in question. "I'll see about increasing your salary."
Alex beamed with satisfaction. 'Money, I'm coming!'
Luna nodded, looking somewhat content. 'Money is good.'
Anna, however, was far from pleased. "Please don't cause so much trouble like last time."
"Of course," Alex replied, his tone quick and conciliatory.
The mess left by the real Lucien on the White Mountain was a monumental disaster, so it's understandable for her to be worried. It would be a grueling challenge, bordering on impossible, to retain his "honor" at the academy. But he would just find a way and be optimistic about it.
Finishing his breakfast swiftly, Alex excused himself and headed toward the public library, his mind already sorting through the day's mounting priorities. '—I should handle the Quest first. The Demonic Forces came second.'
As he walked out of the house with Luna, he adjusted the finely tailored dark blue coat that clung to his frame, embroidered with gold along the cuffs and hem.
'I couldn't do a Recall to myself to complete the Quest,' he quickly came to that conclusion.
As soon as he received the Seed, the Virtue became automatically active everytime— it couldn't be deactivated. Because it was in a constant state of activation, it apparently became far too "unreal" to count as a task for completing the Quest. To use it on himself would be like checking the same box repeatedly—completely useless, and ultimately worthless.
'I could do Recreate, though,' he beamed at the thought, which was quickly dismissed after looking at his maid beside him.
Luna noticed that and scoffed subtly. 'Is he looking to get punched?'
Alex quickly erased the look from his face, deep in thought. 'She can't see me using Recreate… If word got out, especially if the Dominion is a valuable one, the kingdom would be all over it. How annoying would that be?'
At the moment, he needed to chant the activation words for both of his Virtues, which meant finding a proper place to use Recreate—or so he hoped.
As for Recall, ideally, he wanted to uncover the mysterious part of this new world, but finding anything relevant, or anyone connected to those mysteries, would be difficult. The Quest needed to be dealt with before the Demonic Forces made their move.
With a sigh of disappointment, he came to the realization that the pursuit of those mysteries would have to wait. 'The cost of using both Recall and Recreate on minor details isn't too high, so I guess I should forget about the mysteries for now to something more readily accessible. Spending too much Soul Vitality and Sanity Threshold could lead me to insanity or even death anyway.'
"Temporary" effects from Recreate or Recall could span seconds to hours—with his current limitations as a Seedbearer. He just needed to be smart on what kind of things he wanted to Recall and Recreate.
While walking outside, he squinted into the morning light.
The village was bathed in a peculiar, otherworldly light that morning. A golden-red sun hung low in the sky, arrogant in its size—too big to feel normal, too vivid to be ignored. The entire horizon felt like a painting someone had turned the saturation dial on.
Rooftops reflected a molten gleam, their thatched straw and dull tiles glowing briefly in the morning radiance. Dirt roads, well-worn but stubbornly dusty, stretched lazily through clusters of homes.
The villagers walked around with tunic clothes. Most of them had a positive look on their faces.
The scent of fresh bread wafted through the streets—because of course there was bread; there was always bread—mingled with the earthy smell of livestock.
Somewhere, a rooster crowed, drowning out the hum of distant conversation and the metallic clink of a blacksmith hammering away at who even knows what.
The trees beyond the village had an ethereal quality in the morning glow, their leaves refracting shafts of light that danced across the landscape in gold and amber.
Somewhere in the background, a creaky old waterwheel churned rhythmically, dragging itself through the stream as though it was contractually obligated to contribute to the ambiance.
Alex couldn't help but notice the sky.
It was impossible not to—the hues stretched far and wide, a luminous gradient of reds, oranges, and faint purples that bled together. 'What a beautiful sight…'
'Earth could never!'
He quickly arrived at the library—a modest stone building that doubled as the village's gossip hub. The surrounding area is empty at the moment.
"...What's your intention, Sir?" Luna asked.
Alex shrugged. "Scouting artifact locations for the Quest."
Luna arched a single skeptical brow but quickly masked it behind a calm expression. "You know you can't go anywhere dangerous, right?"
"I have an idea," Alex quipped, flashing her a suspicious grin.
"I'll report it," Luna deadpanned.
"Heh—"
Without missing a beat, Alex pulled out his wallet and fished out a particular coin—a shimmering alloy of gold and celestial quartz caught the light as he presented it with a flourish.
"—even with this?" his grin widened. 'I know you loved money!'
Luna's lips twitched, silently glaring at him. 'This guy...'
In this world, money wasn't primarily on paper. It was more to shiny little coins.
Honestly, the effort put into the world-building here was so thorough that Alex sometimes debated whether it was a real world or a novel.
The currency of the Valdaris Kingdom was Lyr, which they apparently got from some divine star that allegedly saved the world during its darkest hours—so much symbolism.
The coin hierarchy is simple: Astral Lyr was the big dog, followed by Celestine Lyr, Starshard, and Lunar. Or to put them shortly; AL, CL, S, and L.
1 AL = 10 CL. 1 CL = 10 SS. 1 SS = 10 L.
1 L = 1 USD. Thus 1 AL = 1,000 USD.
The village's "minimum wage," if one could call it that, matched Alex's national country standards—laughably low. The only difference is that the meager amount was enough to sustain most villagers but not most of his nation's population.
Alex's mischievous intent oozing from his expression.
"I'll be giving you more if you agreed to do other stuffs for me—uh, specifically, to be a private guard. I can pay you hourly, daily, weekly—you name it. Or maybe we can spice it up with emotional trauma clauses, exclusive arrangements—well, you get the idea. I mean, you should be able to tell that this whole idea is very beneficial for you to participate!"
Luna regarded him with open skepticism. "From where exactly would the benefit to me come?"
Alex shook his head in disappointment. "Don't you know how much people pay for knowledge...? How desperate they are for truths buried in ruins? Add to that—have you forgotten what "my" Virtues can do?"
Her eyes widened, realizing her mistake. '...right, I hated this man so much that I momentarily forgot about his actual worth.'
Alex cackled. "Exactly. What do you think?"