My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 5

§ 5. No Paradise in the Place You Flee To (3)

“It’s okay, Cian. Everything will be alright.”

Cian’s mother, Cecil, said to Cian.

A warm smile graced her face.

Cian smiled back, thinking, *Ah, this is a dream.*

Cian’s mother had died when he was young.

*This is a dream of those nostalgic times when my mother was still alive.*

At first, he had been overjoyed.

But now, he was indifferent enough to recognize it as a lucid dream at once.

*Because I’ve had it so many times.*

“Mom is okay. Mom is fine because she has our Cian.”

Cecil always said she was okay.

So Cian thought she was okay.

But she wasn’t.

She wasn’t okay.

Cian still couldn’t forget the sight of his mother, a cold corpse.

She had suffered more painfully and endured harder times than anyone else, but she couldn’t voice it.

She simply couldn’t.

So Cian knew.

The young Cian hadn’t known then, but the Cian in the dream now understood.

“It’s okay. Everything will be alright.”

That was Cecil, saying it to herself, not to Cian.

Cian smiled bitterly.

*Dreams are so cruel.*

*Just when you’re about to forget, they resurrect that memory.*

“Cian, love people, have pity on them, and care for them. This is how Cian can live like a noble.”

*Mom can’t, but…*

In Cian’s memory, Cecil possessed an uncommon wisdom.

So much so that she seemed more than just a commoner or a maid.

“Yes. I will.”

Cian hugged Cecil tightly.

Cecil looked slightly surprised.

Soon, her smiling face shone, a sight he would never see again.

*It’s about time to wake up.*

A dream is just a dream, an irreversible past.

It’s an emotion that has become dull and muted now.

Yet, it’s firmly embedded in his heart.

The dream dissolved, flowing like a dream should.

Soon, his wandering spirit returned.

“Ugh…”

Cian opened his eyes, a dizzying headache assaulting him.

A dazed mind.

Consciousness returned, but his mind remained hazy.

Cian wriggled, unable to fully awaken for a while.

Soon, he staggered to his feet.

Fortunately, his physical condition wasn’t seriously compromised.

Scratches marked his skin from his desperate flight.

The goblins’ wounds stung.

Joints ached from sprains sustained during falls.

Other than these, he seemed relatively unscathed.

“Is it really okay?”

*Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t die.*

Cian shrugged.

Soon, the memory of the moments before he fainted flooded back.

Cian took a deep breath, waiting.

He strained to hear the voice he’d heard before losing consciousness.

He wondered if that voice would return.

But no matter how long he waited, the voice remained silent.

“Hmm.”

Cian slowly surveyed his surroundings.

He was inside a collapsed cave.

The cave was dark, but a faint light leaked from one side.

It shone like a beacon, beckoning him forward.

“I should go, right?”

Cian moved without hesitation.

At the end of the passage, he found a wide, empty chamber.

An altar stood in the center.

Something small rested upon the altar.

The light emanated from it.

Cian approached the altar cautiously.

Standing directly before it, he stared intently at the object.

It was rectangular, about the size of his palm.

It resembled an elaborate magical artifact…

[Smart Phone]

The inscription lay beneath the altar.

Cian tilted his head.

“What does it say?”

He had no idea what the word meant.

The letters were unfamiliar to Cian.

To be exact, it wasn’t a common language of the continent.

“Rune?”

It differed from that.

The language used by wizards, Rune.

Of course, Cian couldn’t claim fluency in Rune.

But he had seen it before, and this was different.

Then, in an instant, the letters distorted, morphing into a new form.

After a moment, the transformation completed, revealing the common language of the continent.

[Smartphone]

“Smartphone?”

*What is this?*

Cian still didn’t understand its meaning.

*Smartphone. I swear it’s the first time I’ve ever heard that word.*

“It looks like a magic tool on the outside…”

Magic tools, the pinnacle of magical craftsmanship.

Cian slowly reached for the smartphone.

*Whoa!*

A bright light erupted from the smartphone.

Cian recoiled.

The light was being absorbed into his hand, the one that had touched the device.

However, the light continued to flow into Cian’s hand like a spiderweb.

“What, what’s going on?”

His initial embarrassment quickly turned to alarm.

Soon, all the light vanished.

*Ding!*

A cheerful notification sound chimed from the smartphone.

Then, text appeared on the screen.

《Measures the causality suitable for the new manager.》

《Measuring…》

.

.

.

《Complete!》

《Would you like to install Mobile Lord?》

“Mobile… Lord?”

Cian was dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events.

He fumbled with the smartphone, trying to understand.

But he couldn’t do anything beyond staring at the notification window.

“Should I press this button?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Cian pressed the install button.

Again, a notification sound rang, and the screen changed.

《Thank you for installing Mobile Lord!》

.

.

.

《Loading…》

.

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《Synchronizing the information of the territory…》

《Checking administrator…》

.

.

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《Synchronization and verification complete!》

《Welcome to Mobile Lord!》

The screen changed again.

The new screen displayed a desolate land and burning vegetation.

Meanwhile, a strange voice echoed.

《A thousand years ago, a great crisis struck the world. The invasion of demons. The world is burning due to the invasion of powerful demons…》

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

Cian literally wondered what was happening.

《People gathered their strength to fight back, but the power of the Demon God was too…》

Regardless of Cian’s confusion, the screen on his smartphone continued to change, and the voice continued to narrate.

Cian ignored the screen and the disembodied voice, focusing on the smartphone itself.

Then.

《Would you like to skip the story?》

“Skip story?”

*Do I have to press this to proceed?*

Cian pressed the skip button, which looked similar to the install button.

At that moment.

《Too bad! It’s a story that the deliverer prepared with his head!》

《But it’s okay! The story of the original game is there to be skipped!》

《Above all, the skipped story can be viewed again at any time!》

《If you’re curious later, please come and see us!》

Soon, the screen changed.

After a short pause.

*Ding!*

Along with another notification sound, a window with a fairly long text appeared on the screen.

『[Tutorial Quest] – ‘This is my territory…?’

→You have been appointed to the Ruben Territory for the first time.

Dugun dugun! Segeun negeun! Biceps!

I came to the territory with a trembling heart, staying up all night…

Oh my gosh!

This is a territory! It’s a monster den!

A group of monsters that have occupied the territory!

You can’t just stand still as a lord!

Defeat the monster groups that threaten the Ruben Territory!』

“…What is this again?”

Cian’s sense of absurdity skyrocketed.

#

Cian’s ascended absurdity was able to return quickly.

However, the spirit that had left with absurdity returned a little later.

Was it because of that?

“Tutorial Quest?”

*I couldn’t understand a single thing!*

“What the heck is this?”

Cian stared blankly at the screen of the smartphone that was floating.

First of all.

This smartphone or whatever it was.

He couldn’t figure out what it was from the beginning.

Of course, he had some guesses.

A kind of magic tool.

Magic tools, called the culmination of magic, easily crossed the boundaries of common sense.

Therefore, this smartphone could also be regarded as a type of magic tool.

But.

“How do you know that I came to Ruben Territory as a lord?”

It wasn’t to this extent.

To be exact, it wasn’t to the point of reading people’s memories.

*It might be possible if someone had entered that information in advance…*

Cian’s becoming the lord of Ruben was decided just a few days ago.

“But how… Ah?”

Then suddenly, Cian remembered the notification window that had appeared a little while ago.

‘Synchronization and verification complete!’

Synchronization.

“Did you synchronize information about me?”

It was impossible.

He could say that for sure.

Of course, Cian couldn’t say he knew magic well.

Still, being in the Elan Dur family, he was able to come into contact with many magic tools from afar.

*I’ve never used it before, though…*

Anyway.

He was sure he had never seen a magic tool like this before.

A magic tool that synchronizes people’s information.

He had never even heard of such a magic tool.

From the moment that was possible.

It could no longer be called a ‘magic tool’.

Artifact.

It was the realm of artifacts, called the ultimate in magic.

But artifacts were lost a thousand years ago.

Numerous magicians tried to reproduce the artifact, but it was impossible.

Only those created a thousand years ago continue and remain like remnants.

Literally lost a thousand years ago─.

“Wait a minute.”

Cian’s thoughts stopped for a moment.

It was because when he first entered the cave.

The strange voice he heard came to mind.

‘Calling Arnaiz.’

Arnaiz.

These people, called ‘6 Arnaiz’, were heroes who saved the world a thousand years ago.

Heroes in mythology who defended the current continent against the invasion of demons.

‘Error: No Arnaiz available to respond.’

It was a natural story.

All the Arnaiz died a thousand years ago.

Now, a thousand years have passed since they were active.

It didn’t make sense to be alive.

Could it be because of that?

The voice that was heard later was this.

‘Searching for a new manager based on causality.’

With those words, the cave collapsed,

Cian is here now.

“So…”

Cian calmly organized his thoughts.

And one conclusion reached.

“I became the new manager?”

Of this smartphone thingy?

Judging from the context, it was.

“Hmm…”

Cian was lost in thought for a moment.

After a little time like that.

“Let’s move on for now.”

Cian decided not to worry too much.

That’s because everything wasn’t certain.

It was just a guess.

Whether this smartphone is a magic tool or an artifact.

Whether Arnaiz is the Arnaiz Cian is thinking of.

Everything was uncertain.

Above all, those weren’t important facts right now.

*What if it’s an artifact, what if it’s Arnaiz?*

What’s important now wasn’t that.

There was only one important thing right now.

『[Tutorial Quest] – ‘This is my territory…?’』

He had to solve that tutorial quest.

That’s because not all goblins have been dealt with yet.

The goblins who followed Cian into the cave were all dead, but the goblins at the entrance were still there.

Maybe they were wandering outside the cave, waiting for Cian to come out.

So, in order to get out of here, in order to survive, it was necessary to solve the quest.

“I’m also curious about what the territory management system is that they’re giving as a reward.”

If you look at it simply, it seems like something that manages the territory…

It wasn’t too late to think about the rest of the problems after opening that.

So right now, that quest is the priority.

To be exact, getting out of here alive is the priority.

But.

“Hmm… But how do I deal with it?”

There was no way.

That’s because Cian didn’t have the power to deal with the goblin groups.

If that were possible, he wouldn’t have lured them in the first place.

“If I lure them into the cave like before…”

Cian quickly shook his head.

They were the ones who had already seen their own kind being torn apart.

Although the realm of reason was cut off due to the berserk state, the fear of death, the realm of instinct, remained.

Besides, the strange voice that was heard at first was no longer heard.

He couldn’t be sure if the light that exploded the goblins would work again.

It would be a disaster if he tried to lure them in, but the light didn’t work.

“Should I wait here until Hans comes?”

It was the best judgment he could make right now.

But there was also a problem with this.

There were still many goblins left,

Even Hans couldn’t deal with that many goblins at once.

“How do I do this…”

Right then, when he was thinking that.

*Ding!*

As if waiting, a notification sound was heard from the smartphone.

“What is it?”

Cian slowly lowered his gaze and looked at the screen of the smartphone that had appeared.

『[Lord Only] – Beginner Growth Support Beginner Package (3,000 G)

Contents: S-class equipment set.』

-This product can only be purchased once.

-This product is a special price discount product due to causality, and cannot be refunded upon purchase.

“What is this again…”

And again.

Another window popped up with a cheerful notification sound.

*Ding!*

《When you get stuck while progressing, try paying!》

“…Paying?”

*No, what are you really saying?*