The silence in the mayor's hall was almost physical. Rylen watched the panic solidify into a cold, calculating hatred in Mayor Krell's eyes. The script was broken.
"An… audit, my lord?" Krell finally managed, his voice straining to recapture a semblance of obsequiousness. "Of course, your diligence does you credit. But the records… they are scattered, you see. Years of hardship. It would take weeks to gather them all. Surely, you wish to settle in first? The meal…"
"The meal can wait," Rylen stated, his tone leaving no room for debate. He turned to the pale clerk. "You are the record-keeper?"
"Y-yes, Lord-Mayor. Elric, sir."
"Elric. You will escort me to the records room. Now. Captain Borin," Rylen's gaze shifted to the hulking guard, whose hand still rested on his sword hilt, "you will post two men at the door. No one enters or leaves without my express permission once we are inside."
For a moment, Borin looked to Krell. The unspoken question hung in the air: Do I obey him?
Krell gave an almost imperceptible, furious nod. The game, for now, was still bound by rules Rylen had invoked. Open defiance of a lord conducting crown business was treason.
"As you command," Borin gritted out, his voice like grinding stones.
The records room was a closet at the back of the hall, smelling of dust, mildew, and neglect. Ledgers were piled haphazardly on sagging shelves. Elric wrung his hands, his eyes darting to the door as Rylen surveyed the disaster.
"This is the state of Lastwall's records?" Rylen asked, not expecting an answer. He pulled a ledger at random. The entries were blurry, written in a rushed, inconsistent words written all over it. He didn't need his to think twice to see they were worthless fabrications.
"Bring me the true ledgers," Rylen said, not looking at Elric.
"M-my lord? These are…"
"Elric." Rylen finally turned. He didn't raise his voice. He simply let the cold certainty from a dozen memories of death fill his eyes. "I have just publicly declared an audit. Mayor Krell is sweating. You look like you're about to be sick. We both know what is in this room is a lie. I am giving you one chance. Show me the real books. The ones Krell and the Northgard Kingdom use. Do it now, and your cooperation will be noted. Obstruct me, and you will be named as a co-conspirator in the first report I send to the Lastwall kingdom."
He saw the conflict on Elric's face—fear of Krell's retaliation versus the terrifying, royal power Rylen represented.
Elric broke under pressure. With a trembling finger, he pointed to a large, empty grain sack in the corner. "Beneath the floorboard under the sack. A lock. Only the Mayor has the key."
A lock. Rylen's mind latched onto the problem. He had no key, and picking locks wasn't in his skill set. Yet. He looked at his System balance: 27 Gold Crowns. A free simulation was available.
"Wait outside with the guards," Rylen ordered. "Tell them I am assessing the record individually."
Once alone, he knelt by the sack. The floorboard was loose. Beneath it was a heavy iron lock securing a ring to a trapdoor. He formed his intent.
He used his free simulation immediately
[Free Simulation Activated.]
[You fashion a crude lockpick from a discarded metal nib and a wire from a ledger binding.
Hour 1:You fail. The pick breaks.
Hour 3:You attempt to pry the ring. The noise alerts the guard outside.
Hour 4:Guard Captain Borin enters, finds you tampering. He drags you before Krell. You are accused of attempted theft and sabotage. You are imprisoned in the town cell.
Day 2:you are later killed in the prison]
[SIMULATION ENDS. Select Reward.]
A dead end. He chose Life Experience, enduring the brief humiliation and the chill of the cell. The knowledge of the lock's resistance and the sound it made when pried was now his.
He needed a different approach. Information was a weapon.
[Paid Simulation Activated. Cost: 1 Gold Crown. System Balance: 28.]
[ You call Elric back in. You tell him you know about the lock and that Krell has the key. You then publicly order Borin, in front of townsfolk, to break the lock open in the name of the Crown's audit.
Borin, cornered by public order, breaks the lock. Inside are the true ledgers and a small stash of uncut Sky-Iron.
Day 2:Krell is publicly disgraced but desperate. That night, the Northgard scouts he's in bed with raid the town archives, killing the guards and stealing the ledgers back. You are killed in the chaos, branded a victim of 'bandits.']**
[SIMULATION ENDS.]
REWARD
1 LIFE EXPERIENCE
2 ITME
3 POWER LEVEL
Rylen let out a slow breath. Too fast. Too public. It forces their hand into violence. He took the item,you can only get one item from the simulated life and he choos the ledger.
Now he didn't have to waste any more gold coin for simulations and he didn't even have to open the box at all so no body would be able to suspect him at all.
Now he has made his first step to destroying krell and taking his revenge on borin and krell for the amount of times they have killed and made us live or should he say simulation life a living hell.
The called Eric back into the room.they is not need to look so conflicted I was never really going to turn this place upside down I just wanted you guys to know that it would be better to cooperate with me than try to discard me.
He already hid the ledger in his clothe and now he would escalate the situation so krell wouldn't suspect anything and would think he was simply making a statement and nothing more.
This would give him enough time to prepare his next step and finally pass this hurdle so he could rest in this new territory.