[POV: Sloth]
“He got away.”
I sighed, disappointment settling heavily over me. The strategy I had devised had been executed flawlessly. We had surrounded the mountain, cut off every escape route, overwhelmed the assassins, and even caught their leader in my Sun King’s Ray of Destruction. Yet somehow, the most important person had escaped.
“Excellently done, your lordship,” Sun Jian said, sounding genuinely awed. He stared toward the spot where the assassin had disappeared, his expression filled with amazement. I could practically see the thought forming in his eyes, though it seemed the awe was too much that he couldn't help, but give voice to it. "How strong must his lordship be to incinerate an enemy so thoroughly that not even a corpse remained?"
“Actually, I failed,” I said. “The enemy escaped.”
His expression changed at once. “Escaped?”
“Yeah.” I pointed toward the place where the assassin had fallen. “He used a Ring of Resurrection.”
Sun Jian stared at me. “A… Ring of Resurrection?”
The doubtful tone in his voice made it obvious that this was probably the first time he had ever heard of such a thing. I knew the item well. It was a consumable from the game, designed to resurrect players upon death. There was a limit to how many rings a player could equip at once, but that had not stopped the Ring of Resurrection from becoming part of the game’s meta for quite a long time.
When it was first introduced, players had come up with all kinds of strategies involving it. I remembered one of the more annoying ones: caster-type classes would combine the ring with teleportation abilities to fake their deaths. They would deliberately allow themselves to be killed, resurrect somewhere else, and teleport away before their enemies even realized what had happened.
It was an old trick. But this was no longer a game. There were real consequences here.
I waited. Nothing happened. The assassin did not suddenly respawn at the location where he had died.
“Huh…” I scratched my head. "Does he know how to teleport, perhaps?"
"Teleport? I can't say," said Sun Jian, frowning.
I mentally tugged at my summons and detached a contingent from the surrounding army. “Spread out. Search the mountains and the surrounding forest. Find that assassin.” I paused. “And don’t kill him if you find him. I want to talk to him.”
“Your will shall be done,” Sun Jian said, sounding as though he were my subject.
He wasn't.
“Not you,” I said. “You made a promise with Feng Cai, didn't you?”
Sun Jian paused before lowering his head apologetically. “I apologize, your lordship. I became too caught up in the situation.”
“It's fine. One of the slimes will guide you to the palace.”
I mentally tugged on one of the nearby slimes. One of them stopped before Sun Jian and began bouncing up and down, as though volunteering for the job.
Sun Jian looked down at the slime before glancing back at me. “Thank you, your lordship. I am deeply grateful.”
I watched him leave as the slime guided him away. The rest of my slimes remained behind. They began cleaning the battlefield. More accurately, they began eating it. The dead trespassers were devoured one after another, their bodies disappearing into the gelatinous forms of my summons.
I cast Sun King's Ray of Destruction one more time. Several beams of sunlight descended from the sky, swiftly finishing off those who were still alive. The spell I had just used was one of the most powerful attacks in my arsenal, but it had one annoying requirement.
It needed the sun.
That was why I had used Weather Control earlier to stop the rain I had summoned. Once the clouds parted and sunlight returned, I could finally use it.
Multi-Cast was triggered. Several beams came to life at once, zigzagging through the battlefield as they slaughtered the remaining trespassers. Despite all the deaths around me, I felt eerily calm. I should have been disturbed, but I wasn't.
In fact, I felt more annoyed than anything.
What happened exactly?
I was low-key proud of the strategy I had created and how well I had executed it. At the same time, I couldn't help but feel a little butt hurt. Especially because I had been adapting on the fly. When I realized there were far more enemies than my Map Creation skill had not detected, I immediately acted on it.
After all, I could have missed even more. So I came up with a workaround. I used Wild Shape: Summon on one of my slimes. It was an ability that allowed me to use Wild Shape on one of my summons instead of myself.
The slime I chose was one of the creatures that had eaten an absurd amount of those shiny stones while guarding the palace. While the ability was active, I couldn't use Wild Shape on myself. That was where the next part came in.
I used Castling.
Castling was a skill that allowed me to swap places with one of my summons. There was no flashy animation, sound, or obvious tell, when this skill was used. So I pretended to use Wild Shape on myself and transform into a dragon. In reality, I had simply swapped places with my slime.
The deception worked.
Admittedly, I had relied heavily on the misunderstanding that I was the dragon ruling this area. Still, a misunderstanding was only useful if I knew how to exploit it. Afterward, I swiftly dealt with the intruders around the palace. I adjusted the formation of my summons and directed them to kill every trespasser visible on my map. Once that was done, I returned to the side of the mountain where the leader was fighting my “double.”
I cast Greater Invisibility and watched carefully. I wanted to study them. Even if I didn't understand this world very well, information was information. Then, at some point… I fell asleep. I had no idea why it kept happening to me. I had been feeling more and more sleepy lately.
It was becoming ridiculous.
I wanted to blame my sleepiness for allowing the leader of the trespassers to escape, but the truth was something else. I had been distracted by my complete lack of remorse. That was the part that bothered me. I had just watched hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people die.
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And I hadn't felt much of anything.
“I feel so tired,” I complained to myself.
I rubbed my eyes.
Part of me was tempted to simply return to the palace and sleep it off.
“Damn it…”
Eventually, I decided to work harder. I used Wild Shape and transformed into a gryphon before joining the search for the fleeing assassins. A few days passed like that. I searched. My summons searched. We searched the mountains, the forests, and the surrounding areas.
I worked so hard that I didn't even stop to rest, but we still found nothing.
Eventually, I decided to call off the search.
My slimes had terrible movement speed compared to the fleeing assassin. Even my summoned gryphon would have a hard time tracking someone who had already gained such a huge head start. There was only so much we could do.
I learned something new, though. This body was impressive. Going nonstop for days without rest or food should have been impossible, yet I could do it.
That was how durable this body was.
Back in the game, players could continue playing for days as long as they were supplied with nutrient packs in their pods. Even though there was a hunger system in LWO, it became less relevant as players grew stronger and gained higher levels.
It seemed that particular game mechanic had remained true even after my transmigration. That was both convenient and slightly disturbing. I returned to the palace. The moment I arrived, I headed straight for my bed.
I didn't even bother changing clothes, because it wasn't like I brought my wardrobe with me. I simply fell onto the mattress, and then I went to sleep.
When I woke up, I found Nature Sprite lying on my chest and staring directly at me. Her tiny wings fluttered once before becoming still again. Those bright eyes remained fixed on my face, patiently waiting for me to wake.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“My lord is awake!”
She clasped her tiny hands together, her expression becoming positively radiant.
“This one merely wished to gaze upon your divine countenance for all eternity. Every moment spent looking upon my lord is a blessing bestowed upon this humble servant. Your brown hair shines more brilliantly than golden wheat under the radiance of summer-kissed skies. Your ears are more elegant than the leaves of the World Tree. Even the heavens themselves must weep with envy at the sight of your beauty.”
I stared at her, filled with disbelief.
“My lord’s eyes are the windows through which this one glimpses eternity. Your face is a masterpiece that nature itself could never hope to create. If this one were permitted, she would gladly spend the rest of existence upon your chest, gazing at you until the end of creation itself.”
“...”
Her adoration left me speechless.
No. This was more than adoration.
This was fanaticism.
I was superbly baffled by how shameless she could be.
Sprites were essentially lesser elementals that had achieved sapience by bonding with the natural world and leaving their primary dimensions. They lacked flesh and, technically, the capacity for personal feelings in the same way as fully sapient life forms.
That did not mean they were emotionless.
They were emotive, but their emotions were generally expressions of their source attributes.
Flame Sprites tended to be shy but were remarkably easy to anger. Water Sprites were witty and loquacious. Nature Sprites were curious and adventurous. There were plenty of other varieties, and even among the same type, the intensity of these traits could differ.
A Nature Sprite might act genuinely saddened when she saw flowers wilting, only to cause the exact same destruction a moment later because she thought it would make for a funny prank.
It was not personal.
They simply found it funny.
Arguably, they had feelings. They just weren't usually personal in the way mortal feelings were, yet through the bond between summoner and summoned, I could feel it. This Nature Sprite really did adore me. And that was making me nervous.
After all, I had created her.
She was practically like a daughter to me. No. I should probably have been more concerned about the fact that I had just created life out of nothing. Mana wasn't technically nothing, but still...
“My lord?”
“...”
I decided not to think about it.
I lay there for a while longer, the soft silks of the palace bed cool against my skin, and felt the familiar weight of boredom settle over me. My body had quieted the worst of my mortal cravings. The need for food no longer concerned me, yet the desire itself had not completely disappeared.
It lingered like an old habit, a quiet restlessness that refused to be ignored.
“Peckish,” I muttered under my breath, more to the empty air than anyone in particular.
Nature Sprite's ears twitched. In an instant, she sat upright on my chest, her wings buzzing with sudden purpose. “Tribute!” she declared. Her eyes sparkled with determination. “This one shall bring tribute for the Great Lord!”
Before I could answer, she had already slipped from the bed and vanished through the open lattice doors in a streak of green light. I rose, stretched, and wandered through the quiet halls of the palace for a while. There was something strangely peaceful about the place.
I could hear the distant trickle of water and the soft rustling of leaves against jade tiles. Sunlight filtered through the windows, illuminating the polished floors. It was nice, but it was also boring in a good way.
After all, boredom was preferable to chaos or destruction or being overworked in a job that you held no love for. When Nature Sprite finally returned, she was half-buried beneath an armful of nuts. There were plump walnuts, glossy chestnuts, and clusters of pine nuts that still carried the faint scent of mountain wind. She was using wind magic to carry the entire pile.
With a triumphant little huff, she dumped everything onto a low table. “Tribute for my lord!”
She looked up at me expectantly.
“Thank you,” I said, and I meant it.
I ate a few, more out of courtesy than genuine hunger, before setting the rest aside. It was around then that I heard footsteps approaching. When I looked around, I saw Sun Jian walking toward me. The moment he reached me, he dropped to one knee.
“My lord.”
I blinked. “What?”
Sun Jian lowered his head. “Please grant me permission to address you as my lord. I swear that from this day forth, I shall obey your commands and do your bidding to the best of my ability. Whatever task you place before me, I shall undertake it without hesitation.”
Yes, I did feel bored, but not enough to suffer something like this. “If you're doing this for Little Feng, there's no need.”
Sun Jian remained kneeling. “I have no place in the land of Great Feng anymore.”
His voice was calm, but there was a certain weight behind those words. “After everything that happened, I could no longer return to the life I once had. I thought carefully about what I could do from here. Eventually, I realized that serving you would allow me to assist Little Feng in the best way possible.”
He paused. “So you were right to think I was doing this because of her.”
I sighed. “I knew it.”
“But not because I seek to repay you for taking us in,” Sun Jian continued. “I am grateful for that, of course. However, my reason is simpler. I want to ensure that the young princess can live safely.”
Before I could respond, Nature Sprite flew directly in front of him. “You are unworthy!”
Sun Jian looked up in surprise.
Nature Sprite planted her tiny hands on her hips. “If you call my lord your lord while your loyalty still belongs to the little girl, then what use is there in swearing an oath to my lord?”
“...”
I thanked the little sprite in my mind. At least someone understood the problem. I understood where Sun Jian was coming from and what kind of loyalty he was offering me. I was not so daft as to ignore the signs before me. I could see the warrior mentality in him. The same was true for what kind of world this was or the little cultural aspects I could glimpse from them.
"Forgive me," said Sun Jian. "I've been presumptuous."
“I refuse your request,” I said finally.
Sun Jian's expression became slightly disappointed, but he nodded. “As you command.”
“However, I am looking for someone to run errands for me.”
“...”
Sun Jian's expression froze.
“Do you possess any talents besides fighting?” I asked, thinking something in line with a job hiring.
He looked genuinely flabbergasted by the question. “I...” He hesitated. “I know how to perform household chores.”
“Hmmm...”
I considered it.
Well, good enough, I guessed.
I also knew how to perform household chores. It wasn't particularly difficult, but having someone else do them for me would basically be an upgrade to my lifestyle. The bedding needed to be maintained. The palace needed to be cleaned. There were probably countless other little things that needed doing.
I couldn't be bothered to do them.
“You are hired,” I said. “You can start with cleaning the place.”
Sun Jian stared at me.
“...Hired?”
“Yes.”
When I woke up to this new reality, I felt lost. I didn't have a goal. Maybe this was as good a start as any. Elevating my lifestyle was one goal I could get behind. It was achievable, too. Moreso in this world than the one I left behind.
However, the nature of this world presented me with a different problem.
It was too... magical.
There were dragons, cultivators, spirits, flying swords, probably immortal beings, strange realms, and several things I hadn't encountered yet that would make me question reality all over again. I had no idea what the future held for me. Perhaps pursuing a normal-ish life in this clearly insane world could be another goal. At the very least, it sounded less exhausting than conquering the world.
“Er... thank you?” Sun Jian said doubtfully.