My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 159

§ 159 – Count Sian (2)

Conrad hurried to prepare for his departure to Ruben.

The journey from the Imperial Palace to the Dark Forest, where Ruben was located, was not short.

He bustled about, claiming he had many things to prepare, like getting his vacation approved.

Sian wondered if the Crown Prince even needed vacation approvals…

Well, whatever.

Originally, he had planned to leave for Ruben immediately, but under the circumstances, he had no choice.

He had to wait until Conrad was ready.

And it didn’t seem like it would take too long.

He saw Conrad taking out vacation requests and various approval documents from his drawer.

And he saw him personally stamping the Crown Prince’s seal on those documents.

‘Is that even allowed?’

He wondered… but what could he do when the Crown Prince was the one doing it?

Nevertheless, other preparations were still necessary.

The Crown Prince’s movements didn’t just involve him alone.

Moreover, this time, even the Princess was accompanying him.

The Crown Prince and Princess moving at the same time?

He wouldn’t be surprised if the entire Imperial Palace was put on high alert.

So, Sian left the office, leaving the busy Conrad behind.

And he immediately took out his smartphone.

『[Territory Quest] – ‘This is my world! The world I created!!’ (Cleared!)』

It was the quest he received about five months ago when he decided to abandon the name Elan Dur.

And it was the quest that was cleared just now, upon receiving the title of Count at the Great War.

Sian firmly tapped the notification window that popped up.

But perhaps because the Mobile Lord was still unconscious,

Only the fact that it was cleared was listed, and no related explanations appeared.

It seemed he would have to wait for the Mobile Lord to wake up to know the details.

“It’s probably just going to be full of unnecessary fuss anyway.”

Sian chuckled and lowered his gaze slightly.

〈New Package, Territory Growth Package, has been unlocked.〉

〈Mileage Shop has been unlocked.〉

The rewards he received along with the quest’s completion.

“The Territory Growth Package is probably just a bundle of territory-related items for sale.”

As for the Mileage Shop…

“What’s this?”

It was something he was seeing for the first time.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the concept itself.

The concept of mileage existed on the continent as well, and its meaning was similar to store credit or points.

The meaning of mileage in the Mobile Lord wouldn’t be any different.

Therefore, mileage probably referred to the points earned each time he spent money.

And the Mileage Shop would mean a store where he could buy something with that mileage.

“The amount of money I’ve spent so far…”

Based on the payment history the Mobile Lord showed him last time,

Including the complete overhaul of Ruben, it was nearly 70 million gold.

To be exact, 70.32 million.

And if he added the 84 million gold he embezzled this time…

“154.32 million gold…”

The amount of money he spent on Ruben had finally exceeded 100 million.

“Crazy…”

Sian muttered to himself without realizing it.

With 154.32 million gold… he could buy an entire barony.

The money he poured into a single territory was definitely not a small amount.

In other words, he had purchased the title of Count and Ruben for 154.32 million gold.

But well…

“Is it wrong to say that?”

When he thought about it, it wasn’t wrong.

Well, whatever.

Even if only 10% of the money he spent was accumulated, it would amount to a whopping 15.4 million mileage points.

“Surely it’s not going to start accumulating only from the money I spend from now on, right?”

No way.

There’s no way it would be that shameless.

But considering the Mobile Lord so far, it was possible…

With a mix of hope and doubt, Sian tapped the ‘[New!] 【Mileage Shop】’ item.

Tap.

[Emergency maintenance is currently in progress.]

[Some services may not be available during the maintenance period.]

[We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.]

However, the Mileage Shop did not open, and a notification window appeared.

“······ Aish.”

Sian felt a burst of disappointment.

He was secretly curious about what they were selling in the Mileage Shop.

A quest that spanned nearly five months.

In terms of difficulty, it could be considered more difficult than a story quest.

The Mileage Shop, which was a reward for that, couldn’t be ordinary.

So, he was quite curious about its contents.

“This damn maintenance is really…”

He had to suppress his curiosity until the Mobile Lord woke up.

“If they give me an instant completion ticket as a reward, I swear…”

He would tell Sera to prepare a Blizzard latrine [an extremely unpleasant or harsh punishment].

Sian sighed softly and put his smartphone back into his pocket.

In this situation, he had nothing to do until Conrad finished his preparations.

Training was out of the question.

But he couldn’t just sit around and wait either.

So, after much deliberation, Sian decided to resolve one thing he had been putting off.

“This is the Imperial Palace Library…”

A wide-open space that cleared his vision.

A space so vast that it felt immense, with countless books filling the shelves.

By a rough estimate, there were millions of books.

It was as if they had gathered every book that existed on the continent.

Sian slowly moved towards the inside of the library.

“What brings you here?”

Then, a voice suddenly rang out.

Turning his head in the direction of the sound, a man was approaching Sian.

A man who exuded an aura that said, ‘I’ve studied quite a bit’ just by looking at his face.

It was none other than the librarian of the Imperial Palace Library.

The librarian’s attitude towards Sian was quite respectful.

The librarian of the Imperial Palace Library was a noble with the title of Baron, belonging to the Secretariat.

The role of the librarian of the Imperial Palace Library was somewhat different from that of a regular librarian.

In addition to simply organizing books,

He was also responsible for managing the Imperial Palace’s scriptures, historical records, literature, and documents, as well as responding to the Emperor’s various inquiries.

In short, he was a high-ranking official of the Imperial Palace.

Seeing such a librarian showing a respectful attitude, Sian began to realize that he had indeed become a Count.

Sian told the librarian the purpose of his visit to the Imperial Palace Library.

“I would like to examine the records of Emperor Charlotte.”

None other than the records of Emperor Charlotte.

And the reason was, of course,

『[Story-Linked Quest] – ‘Unresolved Questions’』

It was because of the story-linked quest.

Sian had performed a story-linked quest in the past.

This damn story quest was full of questions.

More than anything, both Muriel and Elodie.

Their final years were not good for some reason.

Not just not good, but completely shattered.

A thousand years ago, the six Arnaizes who saved the world.

There were no more brilliant beings in the history of the continent.

They engraved their names in the continent’s history as unparalleled heroes.

But the truth hidden behind that.

The ultimate fate that the Arnaizes met.

The Arnaizes, who should have departed with blessings, were not like that in reality.

Muriel had to commit suicide for some reason.

Elodie eventually fell and almost stained the world with darkness.

Why did they have to face such an end?

Sian pondered, but he couldn’t find the answer.

『Still searching for unresolved questions~♪

Let’s go go~! Dig it up~!!』

This damn quest didn’t even give him any clues!

And were there any records related to the Arnaizes left?

That wasn’t the case either.

There were only stories passed down through oral tradition.

Moreover, the stories had been distorted and transformed over a thousand years.

Only the Mobile Lord’s quest would tell the truth.

But even this didn’t give a proper answer.

It only subtly informed him about things when related events occurred.

So, after much deliberation, Sian visited this place, the Imperial Palace Library.

Charlotte the Great, the founding emperor of the Charlotte Empire, the only one of the six Arnaizes with proper records remaining.

Perhaps he could learn something by examining Charlotte’s records.

“If you’re looking for Emperor Charlotte’s records… you can find them at the far right row you see.”

The librarian immediately answered Sian’s question.

He didn’t conduct any special identity checks.

Currently, there was no one in the Imperial Palace who didn’t know Sian’s face.

And the Imperial Palace Library was open to everyone.

To be precise, anyone who could enter the Imperial Palace could access the library’s knowledge.

However, he was a little surprised by the librarian’s immediate answer.

It meant that he had memorized the entire arrangement of this vast Imperial Palace Library.

Sian couldn’t help but be quite amazed by the librarian’s memory.

But regardless, what Sian wanted was not what the librarian had said.

Sian shook his head slightly and said.

“I would like to check those records in the secret archive.”

“The secret… archive, you say?”

Then, the librarian widened his eyes.

The secret archive was literally a secret archive.

It was a space that was strictly managed even within the Imperial Palace Library.

It contained not only various top-secret items,

But also the history of the Imperial Family, not the history of the Empire.

It contained records related to scandals and unofficial history.

“I’m sorry. The secret archive can only be accessed by members of the Imperial Family.”

Therefore, only members of the Imperial Family could enter the secret archive.

And Sian knew that fact.

“Here.”

Sian handed a piece of paper from his pocket to the librarian.

The librarian received the paper Sian handed him and examined its contents.

“This is…?”

In an instant, the librarian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The contents written on the paper Sian handed him.

Along with the statement that Sian was authorized to enter the secret archive, the Crown Prince’s seal was stamped on it.

The secret archive could only be accessed by members of the Imperial Family.

But if a member of the Imperial Family granted permission, outsiders could also access it.

Of course, there were few members of the Imperial Family who had that authority.

The Crown Prince certainly had that authority.

“······ I will guide you.”

The librarian nodded slightly at the Crown Prince’s authorization and moved his feet.

Sian slowly followed the librarian.

#

The place he followed the librarian to was a secret space even within the library.

To be precise, he had to pass through quite a few devices to reach it.

Various hidden secret devices were basic.

There was even a maze-like path that was twisted and tangled.

‘This was built a thousand years ago?’

He couldn’t think of it as a building built a thousand years ago.

‘Morkru must have made this too.’

Morkru, the Arnaiz who was called the Divine Craftsman.

At Charlotte’s request, he seemed to have gone through several complex designs while building the Imperial Palace.

“The records you are looking for are located in the very first row.”

When they arrived at the secret archive, the librarian gestured.

And perhaps because it was a place where the history of the Imperial Family was kept.

Unlike the arrangement of the previous library, Charlotte’s records were located in the very first row.

An Arnaiz from a thousand years ago and the first emperor of the Charlotte Empire.

“Then, I’ll wait outside.”

Soon, the librarian stepped out of the secret archive.

Even the librarian couldn’t freely access the records here.

As the librarian went outside.

Sian moved to the first row where Charlotte’s records were located.

There were countless bookshelves that towered over Sian’s height.

“Why are there so many?”

There were too many.

No matter how much of a founding emperor he was, he was a figure from a thousand years ago.

How many records could there be of such a person?

But what was this now…

“It looks like there are at least tens of thousands of books.”

Sian wondered what this was.

But that was only for a moment.

He could quickly guess the reason.

That’s because the records on the bookshelves.

[About the Greatness of Emperor Charlotte]

[The Future that Emperor Charlotte Left Us]

.

.

.

All the records were like this.

In short, they were not records left by Emperor Charlotte.

Records left by later figures after seeing Emperor Charlotte.

Since it was the Imperial Family’s secret archive, they would be records left by successive emperors.

Apparently, the author of the most recently written book was the current emperor, Balua.

It seemed that it was a kind of custom and ritual for emperors to say a word about Charlotte.

That meant.

It seemed that there were not many records written directly by Charlotte.

“It seems like there are almost none.”

This was a bit… troublesome.

Although they were records of successive emperors.

In the end, they were just records that were remembered and recorded later.

Since memories are bound to be beautified, they were bound to be distorted and transformed records.

More than anything.

“What I want to see are Charlotte’s records.”

So, not Emperor Charlotte, but the records of Arnaiz Charlotte.

But those records were almost non-existent.

“Let’s look for some anyway.”

Sian examined the records on the bookshelves one by one.

Anyway, she was the only Arnaiz with proper records remaining, or rather, being kept.

No matter what, wouldn’t there be at least one?

Sian examined the records one by one.

After some time passed.

“There aren’t any!”

He couldn’t find any!

It wasn’t a joke, he really couldn’t find any.

The only thing he could find was this one.

[Sudden Death of the Monarch]

The monarch mentioned here was Charlotte.

The author of this record was the monarch after Charlotte.

So, it was a record left by Charlotte’s son.

And since he expressed it as a monarch rather than an emperor.

It seemed that it was a kingdom, not an empire, in the early days of its founding.

Anyway, after briefly examining this record.

Charlotte suddenly abdicated the throne to his son one day and disappeared.

Charlotte’s son said he didn’t know the reason.

He only saw Charlotte return as a corpse later.

Charlotte’s son was furious and investigated this matter extensively.

But nothing was revealed.

He could only know that Charlotte died after a fierce battle.

“Was Charlotte assassinated…?”

If you look at it roughly, you could think like this, but this didn’t make sense.

That’s because Charlotte was an Arnaiz.

The leader of the Arnaizes and one who had set foot in the realm of Exceed.

Such a being was assassinated?

Well, Charlotte was also human, so her power may have waned with the passage of time.

But Charlotte’s age at the time of his death was not that old.

No, okay. Let’s say he was a grandfather.

“Even so, how can you assassinate an Arnaiz?”

But there was a limit to that.

More than anything, Charlotte’s son investigated.

He said there were traces of a fierce battle.

That meant that he died after a fierce battle, not an assassination.

Not only did he fight Charlotte on equal terms, but he even killed him?

“Hmm…”

Sian’s head was only getting more complicated.

“I don’t know the exact circumstances, but it seems that Charlotte’s final years were not good either.”

Well, whatever.

The closest record to Charlotte was this one.

And this was also just a record of the monarch, Charlotte.

There were no records left as an Arnaiz.

Whether he intentionally didn’t leave them.

Or whether they were lost after a thousand years.

“Sigh, I didn’t get any results after all.”

At best, Charlotte’s final years were not good?

Sian shook his head.

And just as he was about to go out of the secret archive.

Ding!

Suddenly, a cheerful notification sound rang from his smartphone.

“What is it?”

There was no way the Mobile Lord would have woken up already.

Sian immediately checked his smartphone.

And.

〈You can recheck the skipped story.〉

He could confirm a meaningful notification window.