The Summons of the Emperor

Turning my head, I saw a dozen or so guards rushing in. Leading them was an officer clad in ornate heavy armor, accompanied by the man whose hand I had just ‘tenderized.’

“A report has been filed. We request your cooperation in the investigation.”

“What report?”

I had no idea what they were talking about. As I tilted my head in confusion, the lead officer rolled his eyes and replied with a groan.

“For assault, attempted murder…”

“Against whom?”

“Master Sat here…”

“Where exactly is he injured?”

Each time he tried to speak, I cut him off, until finally, he fell silent. Nocturne was still out of it.

‘Today is truly an odd day.’

The scrawny man looked perfectly fine to anyone. Of course, he did; I hadn’t exactly severed anything. And there were no witnesses. Bounties and notoriety only increased with eyewitness accounts, after all. Since I hadn’t killed him, it wouldn’t affect my alignment either.

I nudged the hammerhead rolling on the floor with my foot.

“That man tried to kill me. When he couldn’t, he ran away. But did I say anything about trying to kill him?”

“It’s merely a matter requiring investigation.”

“You checked, didn’t you? That this belongs to that man.”

The officer remained silent. Something was engraved on the hammerhead; it was likely that man’s insignia. I approached the sprawled Nocturne, handed him a potion, and spoke casually.

“I paid to enter. What’s the problem?”

“We won’t press charges for assaulting a guard. We’ll consider it settled…”

“A thousand gold wasn’t enough?”

At my words, a few guards turned around. A guard with a heavily bandaged face stood among them. ‘Guess they didn’t mention how much they got?’

I stood up again and pulled out the Proof of Glory from my inventory.

“Then I’ll use a pardon.”

“There are no pardons issued in this era.”

“Then what is this?”

Unlike the guards, the officer seemed to recognize it. He was speechless.

‘Why are they siding with that fraud when I’m the real master craftsman anyway?’ The interaction had become eerily sophisticated, with restrictions on activities that defied all previous rules.

‘Alright, I’ll tolerate it. After all, I have no choice but to comply. There might be minor anomalies, but they can’t completely twist everything, can they?’

“Nocturne, just go back for now.”

“Sir Haut? Uh, I mean…”

The potion seemed to be bringing him back to his senses, but I didn’t care to humor him. I slung an arm around the stiff, frozen officer’s shoulder and chuckled.

“Didn’t I tell you before? I’m the type to listen to nonsense, as long as it’s entertaining.”

I met the officer’s darting eyes with a smile.

“Let’s hear it then. That grand pile of bullshit.”

‘My plans for today are all ruined. At this rate, I wonder when I’ll ever complete my equipment set.’

While a game could impose limitations on a player, it should never outright stop them. Not unless it was a critical system failure. Yet, things kept appearing to hinder me. Mere NPCs, no less. And I wasn’t even progressing a main quest.

‘What did it matter? If it was strange, I could just enjoy it for its strangeness. One way or another, I would eventually leave. Don’t worry.’

It was certainly novel. When would an NPC ever report me unless it was for story progression? Unless they drew a sword and charged at me to kill me, that is.

Even when they first smacked me on the head, I hadn’t thought much of it. Normally, I’d quietly step aside, but for some NPCs, attacking first was routine. There were even some who drew swords for having their alcohol taken; this was nothing by comparison.

As expected, the self-proclaimed master craftsman’s accusation fizzled out. Of course, there was no evidence or witnesses. If there had been other NPCs, they might have claimed to see something, but the ‘esteemed’ guards had apparently taken my money and happily disappeared.

“Are we not getting to the point?”

At my words, the officer flinched. I’d followed along because it seemed interesting, but it was getting boring.

‘Was my being here really as important as the enchanting or crafting I had planned for today? I didn’t think so.’

The officer merely gaped at my question. As I stared silently, perhaps feeling the pressure, he finally managed to speak.

“His Imperial Majesty… awaits you, noble one.”

“Ah, so he pretended not to know to see me in person, then.” If that were the case, it made sense that I couldn’t use the pardon.

‘Was there ever an event where I was summoned directly like this? Usually, they just send a letter telling me to be careful, don’t they? I haven’t really done anything major, have I?’

‘Or did I unknowingly fulfill some condition? I dabbled in the Emperor’s route at the very beginning, but what could have gone wrong there?’

Strangely, I felt like doing nothing at all. ‘I just wanted to sleep, nothing else mattered.’

‘How odd. Sleeping in-game only skips time, so why do I feel so exhausted?’ I opened my status window.

“Huh… what?”

A single, blurry word floated there. It wasn’t fully revealed. But I knew what it was.

[‘Void’ activated

— Estimated :: 40 hours…]

I stopped chewing my snack, mid-crunch. ‘Why is this progressing? I’ve been sleeping constantly. I went through all that trouble, hugging that noisy, clattering guy, and it had no effect?’

As I shot up from my seat, the officer, who had been sitting before me, quickly approached and asked.

“What is the matter?”

“I have to go.”

“N-now? No! His Majesty will summon you any moment…”

“Who cares about some NPC?”

This wouldn’t do. For some reason, it seemed the suppression hadn’t worked properly.

‘Well, it’s nothing new, is it? Given the state of the system.’

‘Damn it! Nothing ever works out!’ My anger flared up in an instant.

‘Aren’t you curious what kind of quest they’ll give?’ The thought struck me suddenly. ‘Right, exactly. Why am I getting so worked up over something like the Void state? It’s nothing.’

‘I just need to go to the Holy City and get the path to the demon’s nest before tomorrow passes. This quest, who knows what it’ll reveal. I can only see it now, can’t I? Then this must be more important, right?’

“I’m going to change my clothes.”

“Soon, soon a messenger will arrive. So…”

“No. As you said, I’m going to see the Emperor. So, I’ll put on my formal uniform.”

At my words, the officer finally released my arm. ‘I don’t even know when he grabbed it.’ I pulled out a uniform from my inventory called 「Imperial Splendor」.

It was a uniform of black fabric, adorned with silver embellishments and intricate embroidery. It was the formal ceremonial attire for the Imperial Army. Only nobility, not just any officer, was permitted to wear it. To even receive this, one would typically be granted at least a knightly title. As I took out the clothes, the officer gasped, stepped back, and saluted.

“M-my apologies for the rudeness!”

“They don’t recognize me, but they recognize the clothes.” ‘It feels really strange. But there’s been plenty of weird stuff lately. I’m getting tired of reacting to everything. That’s the feeling. Something similar happened before, too.’

I changed my clothes right there. Just as I finished dressing, someone arrived right on cue. Someone opened the door and entered.

“Preparations for the audience are complete. Please follow me.”

I put my discarded work clothes and accessories into my inventory and followed the man, who appeared to be an attendant.

It was a considerably spacious hall. Knights in iron armor lined both sides, and at the center, atop a raised dais accessed by stairs, sat a resplendent throne.

Seated upon it was a rather handsome young man. He possessed platinum blonde hair so pale it appeared white, and golden eyes.

That was the only familiar detail. The last Emperor I knew had been Phelos.

I knew that emperors changed frequently. After all, players could also pursue the Emperor’s route, and the Emperor themselves did nothing to save the world. In this game, the Emperor was merely one of the NPCs that had to be killed in certain quests. In short, despite their high position, they were not an important figure at all.

“Are you the Knight of a Thousand Hands?”

“Haven’t heard that in a long time. It feels nostalgic.”

A thousand lives. The title granted varied depending on the nature of the achievement. I earned this title by undertaking a good-aligned task, subjugating 1,000 bandit NPCs. Bringing 1,000 heads earned me “A Thousand Hands.” It was quite straightforward.

“Now, ‘A Thousand Hands’ suits you in a different sense.”

“What kind of quest is this? Can’t you just skip the preamble and give me the quest?”

At my words, the knights standing around erupted in commotion. ‘Those weren’t just decorations? This is the first time I’ve seen such a reaction.’

‘I thought they wouldn’t move unless I directly charged through and killed the Emperor, but it seems even something like this gets a reaction. It’s quite peculiar.’

As the Emperor, seated on the highest throne, raised a hand, silence fell once more. The Emperor appeared completely unconcerned.

“I did receive a report recently of a man wearing a meritorious service uniform appearing in Portren.”

“Yep. That’s me. They suddenly wouldn’t let me into the city.”

“And there was also a man who annihilated Portren’s largest crime syndicate and presented a Proof of Glory, was there not?”

“What are you trying to say? I told you, I hate introductions. I had so much to do today, and I came all the way here. If you’re not going to get to the point quickly, I’m just going to give up and leave.”

“What is your name?”

Now, I just accept it. For some reason, it seems they can’t read my name.

“‘I Want to Bang Faust’.”

Suddenly, silence descended. The Emperor, who had been lounging, stared at me with a bewildered expression. Soon after, small clanking noises began to resonate. They murmured to each other.

“W-what sort of sudden remark is that!”

‘Looks like they can’t recognize names either.’

“How dare you utter such an indecent word…!”

“I don’t know why everyone makes such a fuss whenever I just state my name.”

‘What’s so indecent about it?’ Sometimes, when wearing adult-themed outfits, NPCs would make embarrassed motions and call me indecent, but I wasn’t wearing fishnet stockings and a bunny suit right now. Why were they saying that?

‘Now that I think about it, maybe I should wear a bunny suit for a while?’

“Then call me Haut. Haut of the Void.”

It was getting annoying. I needed to go hunt demons, but I had no idea what event they were trying to show me by dragging this out. I just wished they’d quickly give me the quest.

After getting worked up alone, the Emperor groaned upon hearing my name.

“Very well, then… Sir Haut, you are to return to the military.”

“Why would I? I need to hunt demons. What are you talking about?”

By game lore, players are not bound by any organization they join. They can undertake quests whenever they wish. This applies to all other organizations as well. There are no instances of being summoned like this or ordered to work. Nor should there be.

After all, players exist in this game as the sole humans capable of, or having the potential to, hunt demons. But they were trying to force me?

Ah, that familiar sense of incongruity again. Damn it, my mood, which had just started to improve, plummeted endlessly.