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“Wasn’t this supposed to be a strategy game?”

Under Karon’s gentle attacks, the priests were left speechless, trembling, and turned away roughly as if they didn’t want to engage any longer.

“…”

Eden, with a dazed expression, huffed while watching the departing priests, quickly snapping to attention and looking back at Karon. He was gazing at the priests with an unsettlingly calm face as if nothing had happened.

“…”

His overly serene demeanor made Eden’s neck tense up. The angelic face she saw just moments ago now felt entirely different.

‘This… there’s nothing about this character in the settings…’

While Eden was flustered by the unexpected side of Karon, he suddenly turned to her and apologized.

“Ah, I’ve kept the priest too long.”

“Ah, no, it’s fine.”

Eden found herself stammering and quickly shook her head. When Karon smiled warmly at her, she felt a chill run through her.

“You said you were going to the Eastern Tower, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

“I’ll take you there.”

“Huh? Oh, no…?”

Eden had just forgotten her own resolution to win Karon’s favor and stiffened up, shaking her head rapidly.

“You don’t have to decline. As you heard, I have some free time.”

Karon maintained his friendly smile. Having no choice but to accept, Eden found herself forcibly accompanied by him. The distance to the Eastern Tower wasn’t far, but somehow it felt like a thousand miles.

Ever since she had been sucked into the game, she’d felt something was off about it.

‘What kind of Commander of the Holy Knights setup is this?’

The image of Karon, spitting words with a smile, made her dizzy. To drag someone like him into the throne war and use him… It was clear that one wrong move could send those beautiful spitballs right back at her.

‘…Maybe I should just give up on Karon.’

Feeling awkward, she couldn’t muster any effort to gain his favor as they walked until Karon broke the silence first.

“Oh, by the way, about that day…”

Eden’s head snapped back to Karon involuntarily, nerves on edge.

“Yes?”

“At the foundation banquet.”

“Ah, yes.”

“I’m asking just in case.”

Karon still wore his kind, dazzling smile. Eden felt bewildered and blurted back, confused.

“What about…?”

“You didn’t come to see me on purpose, right?”

At his gentle question, a chill ran down Eden’s spine. Karon posed a loaded question while wearing a harmless smile. She hurriedly gripped onto her senses and forced a laugh.

“Of course not.”

Then she skillfully crafted an excuse while looking into Karon’s still friendly eyes.

“I didn’t have that in mind at all! I just ran for my life and somehow ended up where the Commander was. Lucky me!”

Of course, Eden had indeed rushed toward Karon that day. He was undoubtedly the person most capable of defeating the monster among those present, and it was a good idea to get her face time in.

The fact that Karon, the Commander of the Holy Knights, didn’t eliminate the monster as soon as it appeared was likely due to the reason Kiris had mentioned.

“How dare you insult the imperial family!”

Kiris had used such flimsy reasoning to make sure no one could help Asmun.

However, as the monster’s new target became Eden, Karon dispatching a monster aimed at an apprentice priest instead of a prince was completely irrelevant to insulting the imperial family. Thus, Eden had slightly manipulated the situation to allow Karon to take care of the monster.

She felt like Karon was somehow aware of all this, cold sweat beading her back.

“Right? Just as I thought?”

But Karon didn’t pry further and just nodded. Eden exhaled a sigh of relief inwardly and nodded calmly.

“Of course.”

Karon smiled at her.

“Well done.”

Eden felt a wave of bewilderment at his overly kind praise.

‘Well done? It was just a coincidence!’

But since they were now at the Eastern Tower, she couldn’t ask any more questions.

“We’re here.”

“Ah… thank you for bringing me.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Well then, I’ll be going now… I think I have a lot of cleaning to do.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Eden lightly waved goodbye to Karon and turned quickly. As she hurriedly stepped into the Eastern Tower, she glanced back and saw Karon still watching her. Their eyes met, and Karon smiled softly.

‘Eek.’

Eden gasped and quickly turned back, flustered, making her way up the spiral stairs. Once she disappeared, Karon’s footsteps were finally heard as he turned to leave.

“…This is one crazy game.”

Eden watched Karon disappear through a small window in the wall, sweating coldly. She had thought he was the most stable character to bring over to her side, but that assumption had completely backfired.

No, it wasn’t like this when she played the game. She thought the character was rather strong-willed and upright, but still…

“He wasn’t spitting with a smile…?”

In that instant, a worried premonition crept over Eden; perhaps what she had seen was just part of the game and there were many hidden settings yet to be unveiled.

“…But he should follow the base settings.”

Karon was a character with strong beliefs, always working for the empire. Even this side of him would surely adhere to those settings.

“Stay calm, Seo Ji-won. No, Eden. If I stick to the basics, I can clear this.”

Eden repeated these textbook words to herself, took a deep breath, and climbed slowly toward the Chancellor’s Office.

Upon reaching the last floor, Eden was subjected to a brief examination by the guard at the office door before stepping inside. She thought it was the last floor, but as soon as the door opened, she saw another spiral staircase.

“Um… I’ll go in.”

Despite knowing no one was there, she cautiously climbed up, revealing a clean, spacious room that didn’t look like it needed any cleaning at all.

The Chancellor’s Office, devoid of windows, was much larger than expected and filled almost entirely with books. The remaining space held pots with rare plants that she hadn’t seen before.

“You really need to keep this clean. Ah, don’t touch the items too much! Just put the books back in the shelves properly. There are valuable books in the inner study, so don’t go in there. Not even a speck of dust can be allowed!”

How was she supposed to clean without touching anything? She had that question in mind, but the space looked manageable enough for her to clean without touching anything.

‘So this is the Chancellor’s Office; it’s not much.’

Eden meticulously cleaned while recalling the nervous standoff between Karon and the priests.

“…Is Karon dissatisfied with the Great Temple?”

Why was that?

Eden retraced the conversation.

“Thank goodness. The anger toward a barrier that’s like the Chancellor’s avatar only applies to the citizens of the capital.”

“So, the barrier is only set up in the capital?”

Eden frowned. He was certainly being unfair. The capital wasn’t the only part of the empire.

But as far as Eden knew, the barrier was maintained entirely by the Chancellor’s divine power, and even the Chancellor couldn’t set up a barrier over the entire empire.

The smaller the barrier, the sturdier and stronger it was, whereas the larger it became, the more vulnerable it was. In truth, keeping a barrier that could cover the capital was an impressive feat in itself.

“Of course, it must be frustrating from the perspective of someone on the front lines…”

Eden mused deeply as she stacked the scattered books on the desk one by one.

‘So what does Karon want?’

Karon surely understood that covering the entire empire with a barrier was impossible. If she could find out what he wanted, it would help with her strategy.

At that moment.

Ping!

A quest!

At the sound she had long awaited, Eden’s eyes sparkled. She quickly looked up to see a quest window hovering in the middle of the Chancellor’s Office.

A pleased smile blossomed on Eden’s face, but it vanished just as quickly.

『【!】 Basic Quest

: Enjoy tea time with Ibthan Rainberen, the Chancellor of Hesemoro.』

“What?”

Knowing there was no one to answer her, Eden couldn’t hold back her incredulous voice. In an instant, the rigid, blank expression of the Chancellor flashed before her eyes.

“…”

How on earth was she supposed to do that? Eden felt drained just looking at the cheeky words “tea time.”

Ibthan was, as the quest window stated, the Chancellor of Hesemoro. Just meeting someone with such an impressive title was already a terrifying mission, but tea time? Seriously?

“Haha…”

It seemed her luck had run out here.

“…”

Asmun sat atop his horse, hiding somewhere deep in the woods, lost in thought.

“If you go to the abandoned castle that day, you’ll find the Count of Reton gone and only the traps set by the 1st Prince left. Feel free to take your chances.”

The confident face of Eden, claiming that, flickered before him. And today was indeed the day they were supposed to meet Count Reton.

Passing through this forest would lead him to the abandoned castle where the secret meeting was being held. Asmun looked up at the moon, high in the sky.

“…”

The appointed time had already passed, and he was breaking his promise to meet the Count of Reton based solely on the words of an apprentice priest.

The question of whether this was the right choice continued to haunt him without respite until now, but somehow, Asmun couldn’t forget the proud gaze directed at him.

 

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