After returning to the Seventh Lord’s castle, there was a very short time left until the Lords’ meeting.
While waiting until then, I rested quietly. After participating in the meeting, I would then start with my plans.
'He just leveled up again.'
Reef and Rigon were sparring with each other at the gymnasium.
I looked at Rigon and clicked my tongue.
[Lv. 29]
Was he at level 23 the last time I saw him before leaving for Earth Hill?
In that time, he had risen another 6 levels and was on the verge of reaching level 30.
Kakakakang!
Reef, who was blocking the dizzying attack, accelerated as if to end the duel.
Reef’s sword sharply cut Rigon’s sword upwards, but in an instant, Rigon slashed towards her.
Reef threw away her sword and kicked Rigon with her foot at the surprise reverse sword attack.
Rigon was thrown up in the air, and he rolled several times on the floor before stopping.
“Ouch...”
She could not control her strength at the moment because of the surprise counterattack.
“Are you okay?”
The sparring ended with Reef approaching the fallen Rigon in embarrassment.
As the level went up, the growth rate would gradually slow down, but at this rate, Rigon would surpass Reef’s level within half a year.
I wondered if it would be possible.
I heard the current situation from Gulpiro, who just came to the castle to see the faces of the siblings.
He said that he was spending a leisurely time in a mansion on the outskirts of the city.
“She was a really great woman.”
And as I suggested the other day, he had visited and met the workshop master of Alkimas once. From the looks of it, he seemed to like her.
“Are you going to make her your disciple?”
“No, what disciple? I just stops by the workshop from time to time and give advice.”
I wondered if he realized that just by doing that; they were almost like master and disciple. No matter, it’s a good thing, anyway.
I took a walk around the castle and thought about various things.
I thought about not attending the meeting, but it wouldn’t really change anything.
The messenger would send the contents of the meeting to the Lords who didn’t attend, so there was no big problem in not attending.
The only downside was one wouldn’t be able to express their opinion during the meeting.
Presumably, the odds that the Overlord wouldn’t command me to do something during this meeting were very low.
Since she had the right to command me anything two more times, there was no way to escape, even if I didn’t attend the meeting.
I was very reluctant, but it felt very selfish to be dissatisfied, and I didn’t want to do that.
The position of a Lord was not free. There were rights and interests that I had enjoyed so far, so it was only natural to return as much.
Of course, it wasn’t even a position that I wanted from the beginning.
Had it already been a year since I first possessed this body?
I seemed to have fully adapted to my current situation.
To be honest, I felt I could relax now.
I gained many abilities, and I was no longer in a position to spend every day in tension with threats that could come at any moment.
I enjoyed absolute power in a higher position than anyone else and lived a life completely separated from my previous world.
It’s not too bad as it was, but...
'It’s pathetic.'
If I settled for complacency like this, it’s over.
I knew better than anyone else that there was only destruction awaiting me in the future.
I still had a long way to go. I haven’t even started yet. Again, I made a decision.
Time passed, and the meeting of the Lords came.
Accompanied by Asher, I rode Ti-Yong and quickly headed for the Overlord’s Castle.
***
I arrived at the Overlord’s castle just in time, almost before the meeting started.
Asher, who couldn’t enter the meeting room, left me in the hall and I went to the meeting room alone.
“...”
While walking through the hallway, I accidentally ran into the Third Lord - Heavenly Archer.
For some reason, he was standing in the middle of the hallway, staring at one of the stone statues on display.
He turned around without saying a word and immediately looked away. And then he took a step towards the meeting room.
I looked at his back, and then I continued walking.
I didn’t know what he was doing just now, but since he’s an elusive character anyway, I stopped trying to understand him.
In the meeting room, only the First Lord, the Wiseman, had arrived.
“Welcome, Third Lord. And Seventh Lord.”
I nodded and walked over to my seat and sat down.
After a little more time passed, the Fourth Lord, the King of the Dead, arrived, followed by the Ninth Lord, the Giant King, with a heavy echo.
It didn’t take long for almost all the Lords to arrive, one by one.
Only the Second and Eight Lords did not enter the conference hall until the Overlord and chief of staff appeared.
I thought as I looked at the vacant seat of the Thunder Lord.
'Did she not attend on purpose?'
She had lost a lot of power, so maybe she’s trying to avoid facing the Overlord.
It wasn’t my business, so I no longer thought about it.
“The Second and Eight Lords are not attending, so shall we start?”
The Overlord clapped her hands and immediately began the meeting.
The aspect of the meeting did not differ from what I had experienced once before.
One after another, the agenda was discussed, and the Overlord entrusted several Lords with reasonable tasks according to the cause.
And the Lords accepted it with little disagreement and moved on.
After the agenda prepared by the Overlord was over, some Lords also brought up personal agendas, and further discussions took place.
I kept my nerves high throughout the meeting, wondering what the Overlord was going to order me, but...
“Okay, this meeting ends with this!”
The meeting ended there.
The Overlord announced the dissolution without entrusting me with any work until the end.
...What?
I couldn’t help but feel a sense of wonder.
I thought she was going to make me do something at this meeting.
I suddenly became hopeful that she wouldn’t give me a task until the next meeting in a year.
Then the Overlord’s eyes met mine.
She smiled at me and opened her mouth.
“Ah, Seventh Lord, will you stay? I have a story I want to share with you for a while.”
...So, it came.
At that, the other lords cast their eyes at the Overlord and me with a puzzled look.
They probably wondered what the two of us would talk about that we couldn't bring out in the meeting. And I was wondering the same thing.
After the other Lords went out of the meeting room, the only ones left were me, the Overlord, and the chief of staff.
Soon she put her clasped hands on her lap and spoke.
“There is something I want to entrust to the Seventh Lord personally.”
“...”
“The master of the Flaveros Magic Tower, Ankh Gaindera. The Seventh Lord knows his name, right?”
A fairly unexpected person jumped out, so I quietly narrowed my brows.
'Master of the Magic Tower of Flaveros?'
Santea’s greatest mage force, the Magic Tower.
Here, the Magic Tower was not just a single tower, but a name that referred to three towers.
Among them, the Flaveros Magic Tower mentioned by the Overlord was not the main tower, but the Magic Tower that corresponded to one of the two sub-towers.
The three masters of the Magic Tower represented Santea and were renowned archmages on the continent, so it was impossible not to know them.
Also, if it was Flaveros’ tower master, he was a person who I especially remembered with certainty, because...
“I’ve been getting some pretty crazy news lately from the informants I’ve planted there. What do you think it is?”
I could guess what the Overlord was going to say.
Because there was only one thing that could be called ‘crazy information’ about Flaveros’ Magic Tower master.
“The Flaveros’ tower master is secretly conducting research on the demons by capturing the demons himself.”
...Was it like that?
Then the chief of staff came closer to me and handed me something.
A few papers. It was the information about Flaveros’ tower master that the Overlord just talked about.
The approximate circumstances of the study of demons, the material resources used in it, the estimated scale of sacrificed lives, and other things, etc. were all written in detail.
I skimmed the notes, then stared at the Overlord.
What mattered now was why she brought this up to me.
“What are you trying to say?”
And what followed was quite beyond my expectations.
“I want the Seventh Lord to kill him. Of course, don’t make a big fuss and do it as quiet as you could.”
I sighed inwardly, remaining expressionless.
Assassination.
In a word, she wanted me to assassinate Flaveros’ tower master.
“Why?”
I asked, without hiding my doubts.
Because I really didn’t know. Why was she suddenly asking this?
From what she said, I could understand that research on demons was a trigger, but why did she care about that?
The Overlord replied.
“That’s because they’re demons. It’s not something that idiots who are blinded by greed can touch easily. Who knows when it will explode? It’s better to deal with this ticking time bomb quickly.”
“So, I’m asking why you care about something that has nothing to do with Calderic?”
I know very well that demons were extremely dangerous beings.
What I didn’t understand was why she cared about the damage that this would cause Santea.
But she didn’t answer my question and just smiled.
“I can still give you an absolute command for two times, right? I don’t think it’s too difficult, given the ability of the Seventh Lord.”
“...”
I thought for a moment.
Even in the game, the Overlord had always been this way.
Not even once did her true intentions or inner thoughts came out clearly, and she always behaved erratically.
I even thought it might be a trap, but the chances of that happening were very slim.
Why would she even deal with me out of the blue using a trap?
But she could have already decided to deal with me because of the last emergency call... No, that couldn’t be the case.
She didn’t decide to deal with me on her own territory, but instead send me to Santea for me to fall into a deadly trap. It’s absolutely nonsensical.
Assassination...
Anyway, even if her purpose was unknown, it wasn’t that bad for me.
It was because Flaveros’ tower master was a villain who had to be dealt with someday, anyway.
As the Overlord said, because of the atrocities he was carrying out, a great disaster would happen someday.
It’s something that should be done sooner rather than later. Plus, the number of commands of the Overlord that I must absolutely follow would decrease by one.
The question was whether it would be possible to deal with Flaveros’ tower master—a level 90 archmage covertly.
Even if I think I could do it somehow, assassination was another area.
But there was no option to refuse, anyway.
After quickly recalling the information about him in my head, I asked the Overlord, who was staring at me.
“When is the deadline?”
“There’s no need to rush. You just have to bring in the result until the next meeting.”
So, a year.
I nodded and got up from my seat.
If it’s that long, then I could do anything.
