There was no time to reminisce or ask questions, Selia knew that. Though, she could not take the interrogation as seriously after what she had learned.
The man she wanted to immortalize through her actions and legacy has been in this world with her. She had believed she would never see him again but still wanted to build a legacy he would be proud of.
"—Nathan, you said your father gave you admin access—how and why?" Arnold asked, more composed than Selia who was almost jumping from excitement. She wants to ask him so many things, like what he's been up to, why he was transmigrated as the villain of the game…
But as said before, they need to finish the interrogation first.
If there's a whole group of people like this Nathan earthling, neutral players like her and Arnold will face a lot of trouble in the future.
"I-It was take-your-child-to-work day so I invited a few of my friends from high school to watch how Star Fantasy is managed behind the scenes when I visited my dad at his job. But I had other plans since I asked my dad beforehand if he could let us play for a bit while the rest go through the boring tours to see what it takes to be a game developer. My dad was a bigwig in the company, y'know? So, no one questioned him when he cleared one of the game rooms to let us play. Since server wipes could erase any progress we make in the game during our visit, we were told to instead pick the top players' characters to test out features, dungeons, and bosses without all the grind. I naturally picked the strongest magician in the world and let the NPCs taste my power! But that grew boring quick since things got too easy with how strong Lufulur is. That's why I asked my dad if I could test out the A.I. so that I could modify NPCs and influence their sentience a bit but that requires admin access and a level 7 system."
The boy was more than willing to speak after finding out the true Lufulur is right in front of him. Threatening to break his fingers isn't necessary anymore.
"Why would you need that? There's more to the game than just the NPCs in the mortal realm. The endgame itself is like starting from level 1 again and hosts thousands of hours of content." Selia interjected.
"Yeah, I know but I wanted to play around as God for a bit, though." He suddenly began to drool and cackle, "I'm one of Archmage Lauran's biggest admirers so I changed her settings to make her marry me. I even gave her huge tits and modified the rest of her body to make her super thick! Can you imagine an AI that can handle rigging and all the other technical thingies that go into shaping a character model and their clothing!? You could change them on the fly and the AI will handle the rest for you! I made every single woman NPC a thick goddess since the original models are too bland and ugly. Oooh and that cute loli Melina too! I gave her big oppai—" Noticing Arnold's cold stare, he cleared his throat, "A-Anyway, I fooled around a lot with my friends and managed to make some crazy spells with your character… sir. My friends and I parted ways after a bit but I came back right away and continued playing. Before I knew it, I was transmigrated into the game with no way to log back out."
"How did we never notice someone like him before…?" Selia muttered, arms crossed. "With that level of magic, he should've been impossible to miss even if servers are technically down to tell us how many players are in the world."
Nathan snorted. "Yeah, well, even I know how not to draw aggro. You don't survive long if you flex too hard. If any real top players were around, they'd have deleted me the second I started acting up. I despise PvP, especially when there aren't safe zones!"
That much was true.
Even Lufulur—one of the strongest PvP mages to ever exist—wasn't invincible. Against multiple top-rankers, even he'd fall if he wasn't fully prepared. And Nathan, despite wielding Lufulur's character, lacked the instincts and skills to survive such encounters.
Selia asked curiously, "Then what have you been doing all this time?"
Nathan's expression soured. A faint flush crept up his cheeks. "Nothing. And don't get it twisted—it's not like there's nothing to do in this world. I could've gone adventuring, built a catgirl harem, lived the dream as a powerful man—"
Tears began to flow as he looked behind him.
"But instead," Nathan continued bitterly while rubbing his backside, "I got fucked in the ass by that gay Pope. Literally, dude!"
"…What?" Arnold blinked.
Even Lunaria—who rarely reacted to anything—tilted her head slightly, as if her system had failed to parse what she'd just heard.
"The Pope slapped a slave spell on me the moment I transmigrated," Nathan snapped, yanking his cheek open to reveal a faintly glowing sigil etched inside his mouth. "I was trying to trigger a hidden quest at first that yields crazy rewards! I gave the church an artifact to get closer to that Oracle brunette—the one with the huge boobs—but that bastard baited me and clapped me instead! How is that allowed!?"
"…Augustus swings that way so he probably fancied your looks." Selia replied.
"That makes my skin crawl! Don't ever say that again!" Nathan hugged his body while crying out.
"How did you even get tricked by that? You have my Unique Class character who has completed the endgame twice. A simple slave spell would be laughably easy to dispel with just a thought."
Nathan blushed even more and buried his face in his hands. Through a muffled voice, he said: "It was one of those ridiculous and overpowered rumor spells! Why are they even in the game!? Don't the devs know those spells can be absolutely OP for griefing!?"
Well, now that changes things. It's normally not easy to dispel those spells.
"They exist solely to stop griefing. A top ranker would hesitate to grief a low-level player who's just starting out." Selia said what Lufulur told her in the past, "They are essentially bluffs until they aren't…"
As mentioned before, these spells work on one's knowledge of the spells. If you know about them, they are basically useless. But if you don't, you will become a victim of said spells.
The developers did a good job at keeping the spells under the radar. If they get revealed on some public forum, they are then removed from the game entirely so that they can't be misused. In addition, some spells also have one use only so blabbering about them will be useless.
In the past, these spells were only given to players who complained to customer support about continued griefing. Besides that, they can also be found in grimoires at random.
"I-I know that!" Nathan looked at Arnold with pleading eyes, "C-Can't you dispel it, sir?"
"I'm not sure which spell you got marked with so you'll need to do the research on your own." Arnold dismissed the problem.
"Studying in a fantasy world!? Uugggggh!"
At least this means he has a leash on him. The current Pope may be power hungry but he does care for the people.
"Come to think of it, does the Pope know you're this strong?" Selia asked.
As if feeling proud of himself, he rubbed his nose with his chest puffed out, "He has seen my might and calls me their nation's trump card. On the condition that I fight a battle for them if their own forces aren't enough, he lets me travel around sometimes to stretch my legs."
"Sounds like a slave getting the carrot and stick, alright." Arnold made that passing remark that made Nathan grit his teeth with a blush.
"Let's move on. Is your system still intact?"
"…Nah, I ended up with a level 5 system since my dad said he took the A.I. offline so that it wouldn't overload the system or some bullcrap."
"You mentioned erasing my sentience to make me a slave—was that just a bluff?" Selia asked after hearing that he lost the admin privileges.
"Yeah… I can't use the admin console anymore since that kind of power can only be used by the gods in the game now."
Arnold and Selia shared a glance.
Now came the most important question, "Can you give me back my character?"
"…Uhhh…"
"…I see. I wasn't expecting anything since this is technically the real world now so I'm not disappointed." Arnold looked over at the equipment he wore as Lufulur, "The issue right now is what to do with you. I can't just let you go around picking fights with anyone who hurts your ego or you fancy their wives."
"I-I promise I won't cast another spell ever again, sir!" the boy bowed his whole upper body.
"I hope you understand that the spell you cast would've wiped out all the people in this country and maybe some people outside the Republic. You are, in Earthling terms, a walking nuke."
"…"
"What I'm saying is, understand that you can't use certain spells if there are going to be casualties. I would only use that spell you used back there in the endgame dimensions like Dante's Layers because everything there is strong—different than the normal humans who have villages nearby and just want to live comfortably in the countryside."
Arnold might be someone who would sacrifice lives for his own benefit but if it's his powers being misused to kill people for no reason other than one's own feelings, he wouldn't allow it.
Selia is starting to learn more about this new "Lufulur". Whether he's a kind or cruel man doesn't matter to her since she's done her fair share of deplorable things in the name of strengthening both her forces and nation.
"…I-I'm sorry…"
"Will you be willing to become our ally?" Arnold stretched out his hand for a handshake.
"Of course, sir! You have no idea how much I've wanted to join your guild in the past! You were literally my hero!" Nathan jumped at the chance and grabbed Arnold's hand.
"That's good to hear. Oh and another thing," he suddenly squeezed Nathan's hand harder, "No more sexual advances towards Lunaria or Maia, got it?"
"Eek! Y-Yes, sir!"
Selia chuckled.
Lufulur's protective nature is beginning to show.
◊◊
Arnold let Nathan go after sending him a friend request which will allow them to communicate.
Any other time, Selia would be worried since Nathan is an immature child who somehow got his hands on Lufulur's class and equipment. But since Arnold has the Draconic Halo, he can immobilize the kid whenever necessary.
If Nathan knows what's good for him, he would be obedient and follow every order Arnold gives him.
Speaking of his Halo, Selia asked a question while Arnold was feeling the fabric of his old equipment with a nostalgic glint in his eyes.
"How were you able to acquire the Draconic Halo? I may not have finished the main story but I know that Arnold von Berkley isn't a dragonkin."
"…It's a long and weird story—" he probably summarized it all to not stay here too long but Selia managed to understand it all.
"Hmm, I didn't know dragon lord souls can change a human's entire biology. Ah, but Arnold never had a child in the game so maybe that was a sign?"
He had a harem, of course, but Selia just thought he wasn't interested in having children so he told all his lovers to take measures to prevent pregnancy.
"You're incorrect about that. I impregnated someone when I was 14 then never again so I've had this dragon soul since birth." He said while still checking the equipment, "The woman's name is Denise and I'd like to be a part of my son's life, if she'll let me."
"…You have gotten quite comfortable with your new life, senior."
He scoffed, "I am a new man—neither Liam nor Arnold. But I have the life experiences of both so don't think I don't remember all the times you disappointed me during your lessons. How can someone be so clumsy when I was always direct with what should be done."
Selia blushed, "S-Sorry for always troubling you…"
"Haha, it's okay." He patted her head, "You've grown a lot and took my lessons to heart. Now you can compete against even a Unique Class with your skills. If it were the previous you, you would've lost instantly."
"I-I tamed the vampire Mary-Ann for fighting magicians, just like you advised so I would not say it was through my skill alone… Plus, Lunaria was there to counterattack."
"But you listened. That's what I'm glad about." He continued with another 'but', "If you were trying to nullify most magic damage, you should've tamed far younger vampires, as a dozen of them would've increased Mary-Ann's multiplied HP and high magic defense by 300%. And if you'd completed a proper bloodline chain—male vampire seed included—you'd have gained a tenfold increase in magic resistance." He shrugged. "At that point, his spells would've tickled. Only Eleventh-Rank and beyond spells would be a threat since I'm certain she can tank most of everything below that at least once."
Arnold spoke in a matter-of-factly tone. Honestly, who would've been able to remember those specific things?
"I-I totally forgot." She admitted as she bowed her head.
"I'll have to put you to the test in the future."
"But aren't you… just a warrior now?"
"I am but… I have a magic subclass that I obtained through system quests. What about you? Have you gotten a quest like that before?"
"No, I have avoided the quests all together as their rewards are useless to me."
It's not that they're worthless, though. Their rewards just aren't tempting enough for her to consider doing them.
She has everything she could ever need so the only quest that she would do is one that can reward her with a [Race Ascension], something she's dreamed of since starting out. The easiest way she knows how to do that is help one of the Gate Guardians defend a few enemy waves from the Between Realms but the reward can be quite random if the guardian doesn't trust you.
They've essentially rewarding you with immortality, divinity and race ascension—the highest honor a God can bestow. This being the case, you don't just give the reward away since there's no telling what the person might do with the power.
Arnold suddenly put the gear away in his inventory.
"I thought you wanted to test the gear out since you already have a magician subclass?" she pointed out.
"Yeah, but I'll keep it in my inventory for now since I need a higher intelligence stat before I can use this equipment. I was only rewarded with a magic subclass, not boosted intelligence so I'll have to study for it by myself."
"Doesn't one of the items give you boosted intelligence?" she recalled hearing that from him a long time ago.
"It doesn't give enough. It's like 25+ levels at most but what I need is 95 to reach my previous potential. You don't get that many levels easily, otherwise Lauran's intelligence stat would've been astronomically higher instead of in the lower 40s."
"Ah…"
Selia was worried he was going to throw his identity as Lufulur away. Then again, why does she care so much what an adult does? Will it affect her somehow…?
"I'm going to head back to my city." he yawned, "It's a bit too early in the morning to get some sleep so I'll just go through some work. Oh, right, there's a meeting tomorrow. I want to introduce you to my nobles before my crystals enter the market."
"How soon should that be?"
She's a bit worried her nation's finances won't last so she's admittedly quite impatient about it.
"—I have already sent shipments to several magic stores that showed interest in working with us." Lunaria, who had been quiet for a while now, spoke up from the corner of the room, "They are large companies and can market the crystals well so we needn't worry about receiving less sales than selling them ourselves to both the populace and your exclusive clients."
"Hmm, it must've been mentioned in one of the reports I still have yet to go through. In any case, that's good. But make sure Isolde is the face of it all." Arnold sounded satisfied.
"Yes, Milord."
"You already have clients waiting in line to buy?" Selia inquired.
"Yeah, we made ourselves a preorder list to those who sponsor us and send donations. This worked rather well after our presentation—held by Ersa—in one of those auction houses. The empress, my fiancée Siana and Victoria have helped a lot as well. Their money sits in the bank until I send the crystals to them directly, which I'm planning on doing a few days after the meeting so that Isolde can prepare herself since she's the one who's going to deliver them all. The rest of the world can start buying the crystals at a later date. And don't worry, you'll get your cut before any of our VIPs get their crystals."
"…That is a relief."
"I know I said I was in a hurry but there's something I'd like to ask before I leave. Honestly, it's an urgent matter." He changed the subject.
"Yes? What is it about?"
"Since I am no longer a Berkley, I don't have to worry about political conflicts if I make controversial decisions as a noble. I am my own lord, after all. But recently, my childhood friend's father suggested an engagement between the two of us. He will probably pull the offer back after what happened. But say I become the head of the Penston House, what would be the political backlash to Celeste and her family once I reveal that you and I are allies?"
"Ah, that is a good question. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth but I am not liked by the people of the Eulia Empire so there will be major backlash."
A vampire lord becoming a political ally of a human noble is unthinkable and has never happened before. As such, humans would have a natural aversion to it and fear what the vampire could do if they have political power in the human world.
Selia knows the Penston House—they are one of the greatest noble households of the Eulia Empire and with their prestige and history comes great political power.
The general populace and nobles alike would think Selia has nefarious plans to use this power since her and Arnold's relationship is a partnership. In other words—give or take. She can offer him something in return for political power or threaten to pull back her military from his city—this is what they will assume.
"There will be major political backlash and frankly the only way to ensure Celeste and her parents aren't impacted is to convince her to sever ties with her family officially—"
"Celeste won't do that, nor will her mother allow it." he said, sure of himself.
"Quite the conundrum. If you truly care so much for this NPC, senior, you must do your utmost to ensure they become part of your own kingdom."
"…That seems to be the best plan of action but… even that will be difficult. The emperor won't just let the Penston House sever ties with the crown."
"If you are thinking of this so hard, that means you aren't willing to use force to get what you want. With how strong you are, you can resolve this quite easily." She pondered out loud.
"I don't use violence for everything. Celeste will also be disappointed that I would do that, despite being supportive of everything that's happened and everything I've done…"
It seems that—if you are in this world long enough—you start to get attached to its NPCs. Though Selia has never experienced it before, she could recognize his love.
To be honest, she's… jealous. Even if he doesn't look like that dorky senior of hers whose face was filled with acne and had weird teeth, she still saw him as the man she fell in love with.
"This… might sound crazy but what if I use the tournament as a wager? If I defeat Arthur, I get the Penston House's name, army, riches and their women."
"Eh? Tournament?"
"Well, it's more like a duel that the whole capital can come watch, and if I lose, I'll give them my land and the crystals." As if he had it figured out, he muttered as if Selia wasn't in the room, "The nobles should've heard by now how valuable my crystals are so they will support this. Jurnick will also be forced to accept the tournament now since you don't say no to so many greedy crows whose power you rely on to run your country."
"Uhm…"
"I'll need to write a letter to the palace instead of visiting them again like last time without permission." Arnold ignored Selia who was about to speak, "If you have any concerns you want to bring up or need help, let me know at the meeting since I've got to go now."
"Eh, ah, okay…" Selia nodded slowly, defeated.
"See you back in the city, Lunaria."
"Yes, I will be there before the day is over." Lunaria replied curtly.
He quickly picked up the unconscious girl, who he didn't even introduce yet or even give an explanation as to why she's unconscious, and vanished with teleportation.