Fortuitous Encounter in the Game Becomes Reality – Episode 15
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Fortuitous Encounter in the Game Becomes Reality – Episode 15
5. How to Use the Myriad Mirror (2)
'Still, it's a shame for a knight like Lopez to have this much talent go to waste.'
I've looked into the information of many people through the Myriad Mirror, but I've never seen anyone with talent of that level.
He has already awakened his aura, so switching over to the magic side won't be easy, but if he manages to cultivate his magical ability without major issues, couldn't he perhaps make a name for himself as a Magic Knight?
If he can skillfully use Vanguard's force equipment along with magic, then just imagining it is enough to conjure a terrifying chimera.
Of course, the path of magic and the sword is one where it's hard to succeed even if you devote yourself to only one of them, so it's uncertain whether he could truly rise to greatness as a Magic Knight just because he has talent.
The one thing that raised my expectations was that he had already obtained the abilities of a regular knight at a young age, but even with talent, it will require a lot of effort.
'If I can pull him out, it'd probably be best to do so....'
Judging by how Allen Lopez treats his comrades, it seems I could somehow get him to accept being recruited.
But the problem is Count Otis.
Since Allen Lopez is a knight of another territory, his transfer would require, before his own will, the prior permission of his lord, Count Otis.
'Should I try a bribe or something?'
Considering Count Otis's disposition, it seems like a method that could work.
It looks worth putting into action.
I still don't know exactly how useful high‑grade and top‑grade talents are, but I was already thinking that I should start building a faction of my own soon.
Above all, if I'm going to build a faction, isn't now the perfect time, when I've grown distant from my domain?
Also, if I form my faction not with people whose talents have already fully blossomed, but with those who may be middling for now yet have high potential value, others will be less wary.
I felt as though the outline of the future had become a bit clearer.
"Looks like I'll need to start moving busily."
As expected, there is nothing trivial among Grand Duke Lucas's fortuitous encounters.
I took out and used the Myriad Mirror, which had become Treasure No. 1, and rose from my seat.
* * *
Neither knights nor mages are something you can become just because you want to.
You need innate talent; only those who can sense mana through a magic‑sense test are acknowledged as having the qualifications to become knights and mages and are granted the opportunity for training.
The reason Allen Lopez, who was born a commoner, could become a knight was also because he passed the magic‑sense test conducted at the basic academy.
The probability of passing the test is 1 in 1,000.
Lopez, who had suffered much bullying from an early age because of his small build, saw everything change after he passed the test.
Family and relatives who used to click their tongues, wondering if he would ever pull his own weight, now scrambled to put him on a pedestal, and the disregard and bullying he'd faced at the academy vanished completely as everyone began watching Lopez's mood.
In a world where social status exists, having the talent to become a knight or mage means you're treated as an existence on par with nobility, so this was only natural.
At the time, Lopez reveled in the feeling that he had obtained the whole world, but that didn't last long.
Once he finished the basic academy and was summoned to the lord's castle to begin life in the barracks, he found himself surrounded only by people of the same standing as him.
Humans are creatures that like to rank one another.
If he had gone down the magic path, the atmosphere might have been different, but unfortunately, Lord Otis preferred raising knights over raising mages, which cost far more money, and the easily targeted Lopez became the victim of severe harassment from his rivals.
Sexual harassment was basic; assault and extortion were add‑ons.
Because of this, even after becoming a regular knight, he couldn't help but feel disillusioned with his own profession.
'If you had become a mage, you would have achieved great success.'
A comment someone casually tossed to Lopez in passing.
He did get agitated at the piercing question of 'Why are you a knight?', but the words that followed engraved themselves so strongly in his mind that he could hardly forget them.
Lopez himself had often thought that perhaps it would have been better if he had not become a knight but walked the path of magic instead.
'Commander of the 2nd Combat Brigade, Adrian Lawrence. The incompetent second young master of the Lawrence viscount family. A textbook example of a hopeless noble who brings women onto the battlefield and spends all day playing games...'
In many ways, his reputation is terrible, but when Lopez faced him in person, Adrian's chilly gaze exuded an aura that could not be taken lightly.
Of course, he at least knows that rumors aren't everything.
But when the gap between the rumors and reality is this big, you can't help but find it downright frightening.
"We meet again."
Should this be called a coincidence?
As Lopez was thinking about Adrian, the man himself appeared before his eyes.
Lopez, who had been wandering aimlessly around the camp, swallowed dryly and offered his salute.
"Greetings, Brigade Commander."
Once again, because Adrian appeared with a beauty at his side, all the surrounding gazes converged on him.
"Let's get along well from now on."
But when Adrian suddenly held out his hand for a handshake, Lopez could only put on a dazed expression.
"Pardon? Ah, it's an honor."
He did grab the hand in his confusion, but faced with that inscrutable smile delivered through his characteristically cold gaze, Lopez instinctively shrank back.
Once again, he could feel that this man was completely different from the rumors.
"Is Count Otis currently at headquarters?"
"Yes, that is my understanding."
"Very well. Then I'll see you again."
For some reason, those words 'see you again' sounded rather ominous.
With those words as a farewell, Adrian headed toward division headquarters, and Lopez, for no good reason, hurried back to his own tent as if fleeing.
"Sir Lopez. Sir Lopez, are you there?"
However, his rest did not last long.
"The Lord is asking for you. You should hurry to the division commander's office."
Because a sudden summons from the Lord followed.
Knowing that Adrian had just gone to Count Otis, Lopez couldn't help but feel a vague sense of unease.
"Ah, come in quickly, Sir Lopez."
He hurried to the division commander's office.
As Lopez entered, Count Otis, whose impression was that of a kindly, plump man, greeted him with great warmth.
From Lopez's point of view, it was a situation he could only find puzzling: even if he was a knight, the grand lord's household had more than a handful of retainers, so he had doubted whether the count would even know his name properly.
"You sent for me?"
Count Otis patted Lopez's shoulder as he returned the salute and guided him to the table, where Adrian, the earlier guest, was seated.
And something he had never even imagined began to flow from the count's lips.
"Sir Lopez. From now on, you will serve Brigade Commander Lawrence as your liege lord."
"Sir?"
For a moment, Lopez failed to grasp the meaning and reflexively asked back.
Adrian, who had been sitting quietly, answered his question with a slight smile.
"I courteously expressed to His Excellency the Count my desire to recruit Sir Lopez. His Excellency, being generous, granted my request."
A knight is not an object; it makes no sense for him to be given and received like a gift.
Lopez wanted to say that he didn't understand, but he froze at the sight of the count erasing the smile from his face and narrowing his eyes.
"Do you have any objections to my decision?"
It was a question laden with many implications.
Thanks to it, Lopez properly understood his own position and instinctively shook his head.
"N-no, not at all."
"As you should."
Lopez looked at Adrian.
"It seems we'll have no choice but to get along from now on."
At his smooth, glib remark, Lopez could only give an awkward smile, his feelings in turmoil.
* * *
-Lord's castle of the Lawrence viscountcy.
Cedric received regular reports from his confidants about Adrian, who had gone to the battlefield.
He did frown at the part about him stabbing Dalton with a sword to create an atmosphere of fear, but learning that he was still devoting himself to games as always, he concluded that his true nature had not changed.
Yet according to the latest information, Adrian had apparently formed a group of his own, had he not?
So Cedric was about to respond with great anger…
But when he received the report that the members were a junior knight who had been shunned by Count Otis's household, a menial laborer from the barracks, and a trumpeter from a neighboring unit, his strength completely drained away.
"Did he simply want to have some friends? Pitiful fellow."
He did feel a hint of pity, but Cedric's temperament was what it was; he personally called Adrian and scolded him to associate with people whose status befit that of the family.
However, this turned out to be his mistake, as it was effectively an admission that he was still monitoring Adrian's every move.
This was his complacency in failing to recognize that Adrian's behavior had recently begun to change.
And as if to prove that complacency, Cedric gave orders to his agents not to concern themselves with whoever Adrian kept at his side if the person was not someone of value.
Naturally, Cedric's agents took their master's instructions literally, and even when the number of people Adrian kept close exceeded double digits, they made no report.
"He's just been playing games nonstop? Hah, that's impressive in a way. It's not easy for a person to be this regular."
Thanks to that, the reports reaching Cedric only said that Adrian was still engrossed in games.