The Emperor’s Gift and a Familiar Face

“Th-that, that uniform…!”

“Hah. How amusing. You can’t recognize my face, but you recognize my clothes?”

I let out a hollow laugh. Jack, who had been nervously shifting his eyes, asked what I meant. I replied indifferently.

“It’s just… a thing.”

“M-my apologies! Please, enter at once!”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll let it slide. Just do your job well.”

“Yes! Thank you! May good fortune accompany the Empire’s hero!”

“Keep up the good work.”

Jack gave a strange look, glancing between me and the guard. Faust mirrored his expression.

We finally passed through the entrance. I was absolutely fuming.

‘Damn it! To be treated like a beggar by a guard! What even is this?’

“What kind of clothes are those, anyway?”

“A meritorious gift. The Emperor personally bestowed it.”

At my words, both of them stared at me with dumbfounded expressions. They had even stopped walking.

I, too, halted my steps and turned to face them. Their mouths gaped open, and they stammered incoherently.

When I tilted my head in question, they finally began to move, albeit stiffly.

“Uh… what?”

“The Emperor… personally bestowed it?”

I had no idea why they were reacting this way. Nevertheless, I answered them.

“Yeah. The blue ones are just for promotion. The black ones are personally chosen by the Emperor.”

“This particular design, however, can only be worn by those officially recognized by the Imperial Family. If anyone creates it elsewhere and impersonates a wearer, it’s an immediate beheading.”

With one hand, I made a swift gesture across my neck. The design was so beautiful that I’d once made an identical one for a companion to wear. However, the moment they entered the city, they were attacked and killed. While they were just a minor character anyway, it still left a bad taste.

I ended up reloading, of course.

‘In short, no one but me, the player, is supposed to wear it. Utterly pointless.’

“What on earth do you have to do to receive something like that?”

“It’s nothing much. Just clear out a thousand bandit heads and present them, or if you’re feeling ambitious, sweep through nearby dungeons, purify them, and offer them to the Empire.”

“I think they also gave it for presenting about 120 taxidermied monsters of various types, but I don’t quite recall that one.”

“There are plenty of other minor things too, but I can’t remember any of them offhand. If you’re curious, you can look it up later.”

“How is that ‘nothing much’!? How is that ‘minor’!!”

Jack shrieked. Faust, meanwhile, remained frozen, his eyes trembling slightly. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost. ‘What’s all the fuss about this time?’

“It is minor. It just takes time, which makes it annoying. I did the bandit subjugation.”

“The other methods required me to spend some of my own money, which felt like a waste.”

‘I rarely bother with them unless they fit a specific concept, simply because they’re so much work.’

‘I only did it because I was grinding for good alignment points.’

‘Even with the Emperor’s recognition and all, it’s practically useless. Besides NPCs chatting you up a bit more and affinity rising slightly faster, it holds no real meaning.’

‘Wearing the Emperor’s gift for no good reason only invites immediate nagging if you so much as accumulate a speck of infamy. It’s truly bothersome.’

‘They’ll even prattle on endlessly if you drop an item on the street.’

“First, let’s find an inn. Preferably somewhere near the magic tower.”

I took the hands of the two still standing there in a daze and led the way. They mumbled something, but it didn’t seem to be anything important.

‘Weaklings always just chirp and complain.’

“Are we really allowed to take such a nice room?”

“Is this ‘nice’? It’s just… usable, I suppose.”

The city we arrived at was Portren. On the map, it was a maritime trading city located at the very edge of the Empire.

‘Wow, looking at it now, it really was tucked away in a corner.’

‘Bishya’s event… that was something I would never have seen if I’d started the story normally.’

Portren is situated at the southwestern tip. Go much further, and you’d reach the border, but I’ve never been there, so I wouldn’t know what it’s like. It’s just the edge of the map, so there’s nothing special there. When you touch that boundary, a system warning message appears: [You have an important quest. You cannot leave.]

They said the map would connect in the next series, but it’s been almost ten years, and the next numbered title still hasn’t been released. They only gave us five expansion packs!

‘They might as well not have given us hope at all. Hmph.’

Portren is one of the largest cities in this world. Designed as a trading hub, its urban layout is well-crafted, and there’s a wealth of activities to partake in. It’s ideal for purchasing an island for housing or engaging in life content. Given its lore as the second-largest criminal district, ‘Rat’s Nest,’ it’s also perfect for playing as a villain.

Conversely, it’s excellent for building renown by hunting those very villains. Furthermore, players can collect unique items sold in previous installments, framed as goods imported from foreign lands.

‘In other words, money flows freely here.’

“Right. As priests, you probably never had a reason to get a good room, did you? Especially with the meager pay you receive.”

“While that may be true, we aren’t that poor.”

“I’m just saying this because you’re making such a fuss over something that’s not even a luxury hotel.”

As a resort city, Portren boasts numerous accommodations. While other cities might have only two or three, this one offers a dozen or more options across various price ranges.

A considerable number of players simply idle here, eating, playing, and enjoying the game at their leisure. You know, that desire to experience a fantasy world but also relax comfortably. With a casino, it’s perfect for casual gaming and small-scale entertainment.

If the mood strikes, players can even do a few minor quests for pocket money and then spend it exploring. This isn’t a good sign. Players who’ve made it this far have usually invested a significant amount of time in the game. For them to be doing nothing but idling suggests they’ve grown tired of it. As for beginners, being at the edge of the map, they’d likely just glance at it and wonder if such a place even exists.

“I’ll be here for a while, enhancing your equipment. When you wake up tomorrow, I’ll give you some pocket money, so think about what you want to do for fun while we’re here.”

Jack excitedly entered, but Faust strangely hesitated. ‘What’s the problem?’ I dismissed it as nothing significant.

“There are stages to this, but I think I’ve been judging it too much by my own standards. I need to re-plan your development.”

“Oh, there’s a temple here too, so you can contact the Holy See through them in advance. I’ll give you your allowance tomorrow.”

“Sir Haut. We are not children. While we truly appreciate your unexpected generosity…”

“I know you’re not children. Who said you were? My goal is to hunt demons, and having you two makes it even better.”

“I get lonely on my own, and I need someone to hunt demons when I’m not around. This is an investment, pure and simple.”

‘When I quit the game, the story ends. There’s no need to worry about hunting demons; everything just stops right there.’

‘But still, I can imagine, can’t I? That even in the world I’ve left behind, someone will continue to hunt demons.’

‘I’ll cherish those memories. I have no intention of quitting right now, but someday, I will.’

“The ‘next’… you mean?”

“Likely. I can’t keep hunting demons forever, after all.”

At my words, Faust’s face darkened, as if deep in thought. I deliberately spoke more lightly, pushing his back.

“Just go and rest. And think about how much fun you’ll have starting tomorrow. If you’re really worried, just have a blast and brag to me about it.”

He seemed reluctant to enter, but the stat difference was too vast, so he was ultimately pushed into the room by me.

I, too, entered my own room next door.

“I’ll have to wear different clothes starting tomorrow.”

‘This uniform is such a bother, after all. It takes so much effort.’

‘It’s a pain to repair and wash. I just casually stripped it off and put it in my inventory.’

‘Not wearing it is generally the default, but I suppose I’ll have to wear it inside the city.’

‘Ah, right. I can just pick one with enchantments and crafting-related options.’

‘But the constant rustling sound in my ear is really annoying.’

‘I thought it would just disappear if I left it alone, but the sound persisted even after I showered.’

I casually wiped myself dry and spoke.

“Hey, if you have something to say, just come out and say it. You’re being annoying.”

At my words, a clattering sound came from outside the window. ‘Wouldn’t hanging out there attract even more attention?’

‘They might as well stick to the ceiling.’ I stared at the window for a while, until someone opened it and perched on the windowsill.

“I told you I’d wipe everything out if I came back.”

“No. I’ve come personally, ‘Nameless One’.”

‘I remembered him because of his unusual hair color. Silver hair is quite rare even here.’

‘It was that handsome idiot from before. Was he still playing assassin? I thought he’d die quickly with such pathetic skills.’

‘Come to think of it, it hasn’t been that many days since then.’

“Just come in. You look ridiculous hanging there.”

Squatting on the thin windowsill, he looked utterly pathetic. He hesitated, glanced around, then slipped inside. I casually sat on the bed, watching him.

“Why are you here?”

He approached, maintaining a certain distance, but remained silent. When I pressed him further, he took a deep breath, then smirked, beginning to imitate a brazen demeanor.

‘Hmm? If he was going to do that, he should have done it much earlier. Now, it just looks too clumsy.’

“Don’t you want to know how ‘The Ravens of the Riverbank’ are doing since you left?”

“Well, do you think I couldn’t find out if I wanted to? It would be convenient if you told me…”

“But what’s the benefit for me?”

“It might be a bit troublesome for you. As it is now, they’ve all fallen apart, and the place might not even exist anymore.”

“So what? I’m not interested. It’s been too long, and more importantly, our Bebe isn’t there anymore.”

“If it’s been around for so long, it’s probably time to close its doors.”

“It’s Debora’s Holy See, can you really give up on it so easily?”

He seemed to surge forward, agitated. I laughed openly.

“Our Goddess never cared about such things from the start. I only created it out of my own ambition.”

“She wouldn’t care if it disappeared. If she had ever wanted such a thing, you wouldn’t have fallen apart, and our… our Bebe wouldn’t have died.”

I nudged the chair beside the bed with my foot, pushing it towards him.

“Sit. Your head is too high; it’s uncomfortable.”

At my words, he sat down, mimicking a rather refined posture. ‘Had he perhaps received some clumsy etiquette lessons somewhere?’

As I watched him, he voluntarily removed his hood, revealing his face.

“Let’s just toss aside all this complicated, bothersome stuff. What do you want?”

“I thought I was showing due respect, you see.”

[Resisting Charm Lv3.]

‘It was a system message I hadn’t seen in a long time. This game rarely showed anything like it.’

‘It was then that I finally understood what he was trying to do. He didn’t actually care about goddesses or anything.’

“Your crude charm technique won’t work on me.”

“H-how…?”

“You came here knowing I’m ‘The Nameless One’, and you actually thought that would work?”

‘I’ve lived long enough to be charmed by a male character. Usually, they’re trying to kill me, but for a human male character, not a demon, to try to seduce me? This is a first.’

A hollow laugh escaped me.

“Kid, at least raise your level a bit. Max Charm is 25; do you really think Lv3 will work?”

“Level… what is that?”

“Hmm, I keep forgetting you don’t recognize game terms.”

‘It would probably be faster to just show him.’ I also wanted to tease him a bit. I rose from my seat, placed my arms on the table, met his gaze, and slowly leaned forward.

[Using Charm Lv25 on target. Cannot resist.]

I told you. All my skills and stats are maxed out. Even with a little play time, this much is basic. Charm, being a minor skill, is useless even at max level, but I still raised it because I hated leaving that one slot empty.