Bertrand opens the door to the study, I walk in and greet my father and head of the household, Lord Halagad.
"Greetings father, you called for me?"
My father, with a short grey beard, is dressed in similar plain attire as mine, but with the addition of a vest,
Despite being in his forties, his physique remains imposing.
Tall, muscular and broad-shouldered.
We share the same charcoal eyes and sculpted nose.
His hair, on the other hand, is a fading black, several streaks of grey are visible.
My father smiles, "Hello, Ethan. Sorry about disrupting your exercises, but there's something I want to inform you about beforehand. Consider it mental preparation if you will."
Alright, hardworking. That's part of my personality, noted. Seems I also have a good relationship with my family.
Actually, I might have a good rep with my household in general. I noted that when I greeted a few passing servants, they all waved back at me with smiles.
Nice, guess I don't fall into the villain character possession trope.
Oh, wait.
Never mind, I'm a would-be villain in the future.
Ugh, all those nice people made me momentarily forget my current situation.
Whatever, I'm still thinking of a strategy of how to avert my disastrous fate.
Might as well see what my father has to say since my mind's all over the place.
Perhaps some new info can help shape my future course of action better.
I took a seat across from him, "Bertrand, you can go back to your duties."
"By, your command!" the elderly head butler bows and leaves to attend to other matters in the household.
I start off the conversation by inquiring why I've been summoned, "So, father, why did you call me here?"
With a jubilant gleam in his eyes, my father explains, "Ethan, I called you here because I want to inform you that we are invited to House Solyvr's party."
My eyes widen, Solyvr, how can I not know that name, "House Solyvr? You mean one of the Four Pillars of our Kingdom? The Solyvr family?"
My father proudly strokes his beard, "Indeed! Thanks to your old man's accomplishments on the battlefield, we are on the verge of becoming a Barony!"
Even not relying on the Ethan's memories, Solyvr is a famous name in the game.
Several of the best recruitable characters came from or have been taught under the Solyvr family. A house known for it's bloodline of geniuses and its military strength. Second to only the Levan Duchy.
Not to mention the beneficial quests and teachers you can take on in the Solyvr territories.
Problem is players can only get the opportunity to meet and interact with them in the mid-game when you've racked off some heroic achievements.
Still, it seems like this might be a good opportunity.
I don't know if some of the events happened yet, but the characters should still be there...
Hold on, how did we even get invited to such a prestigious party in the first place?
"Hey, father."
"Yes, son?"
"I don't mean to be rude, but what did you do to earn an invitation?"
He scratches his head and chuckles, "Oh, nothing much, I'm just acquainted with a member of the Royal Guard." he gives a proud smirk in the end.
Drat! That's not good! I'm trying to stay far from court! Here I am about to lick the toes of one of the most prominent families in the game. And I'm doing it because of a Royal Guard!? What BS is this!?
"Is something the matter, son?"
Not good! Looks like I let my feelings slip.
Gotta make up something believable.
"It's nothing father, I just hit a bit of a whole with my training recently. I was hoping you can hire a trainer or send me to a neighboring
"Unfortunately, we don't have the leeway after investing a good chuck of revenue and savings into developing farmland."
Alright, no problem, I was just trying to divert his attention anyways.
"However, there might be a way..." he says stroking his beard, "Remember what I said about being invited by my acquaintance?"
I raise a brow, "Yes?"
"I think I can try to convince him to take you on as a squire."
...
Getting involved with a Royal Guard? Last thing I want to do.
Before I can voice my rejection, my father revealed another tidbit.
"Even if he refuses
"Hmm." I nod my head, "Sounds good."
My father smiles, "Glad to hear it, Alright, that's pretty much all I called you here for. You can go back to training."
I wave goodbye to my father and left the office.
A week passed and I'm attending a party hosted by the Solyvr household.
More specifically, one of their spare estates in the countryside.
So...
Here I am...
At a noble party...
Surrounded by people in gaudy and pricey suits and dresses.
Meanwhile my drabby ass is next to the overflowing drinks table.
They even have a wine fountain.
Not sure how that works.
...
Everyone around me is chatting away.
'Sir this' expanded his mining industries.
'Madam this' got a Silver Fox fur coat from her husband, 'Lord that.'
Some chambermaid married a rando noble's third or fourth son.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Lots of different conversations and words fly about every which way.
They all had one commonality.
I wasn't included in them.
Alright, time for me to briefly summarize.
My father's Royal Knight acquaintance was away on a mission, leaving my father trying desperately to curry favor with Barons and Viscounts without a middleman. Thankfully my mother got along like a house on fire with their wives and made up for my dad's nervousness.
Unfortunately for me, things went south without even trying.
Honestly, I should've seen this coming.
What sort of idiot am I? I'm not a player, they're not just characters, this world isn't a game.
It's reality.
I'm the son of a lowly knight, the Solyvrs are one of the Four Pillars of this kingdom, and under know circumstances is a
To clear things up, I didn't embarrass myself in front of the characters I wished to build a connection to.
Rather, I wasn't even given the chance to.
The minute those shining stars came out, everyone flocked to them like pigeons seeing breadcrumbs tossed by an old man.
So, my original idea of getting close to them was scrapped.
Thank god those people swarmed in before I had a chance to interact with them. Otherwise I may have inadvertently committed a great disgrace.
Okay, so I can't recruit the Solyvrs.
Surely there's other characters from the game I can interact with right?
Well...
They're also of high status, and it makes no sense for me, the son of a mere knight, to approach them.
'Sigh...'
I find myself sighing a lot frequently.
Whelp, this isn't a Wudweiser,
Hold on, I'm still in my teens, I can't drink this.
I switch over to a glass of grape juice instead.
With my drink in hand, I make a getaway for the balcony.
Unlike earth, the sky is clear.
Factories exist, but instead of coal, they rely on manastones.
Even things like lamplights are run on manastones or magic/fantasy-related stuff.
The more I interact with this world, the more fascinating it is.
I can live a pretty fulfilling slow life if I didn't possess the body of a goddamn LM 3 Doomed character
If there's one silver lining to this, it's that I didn't join the Royal Guard.
But I need to find someway to avoid the capital.
I'm happy my parents are finally advancing up a rank in society. That means more opportunities for our household.
However, the higher one climbs, the closer they get to the royal court.
The closer to the royal court one is, the closer they are to the royal family.
And by being close with the royal family, one will be close to Ophielle.
Ophielle, the ticking time bomb, when set off, will go on to turn her enemies and innocents alike into grotesque playthings of her messed up nightmare wonderland.
Considering how a noble household's promotion can take generations paired with the requirement of having made major contributions to the kingdom, I might be worried for nothing.
After all, my family is still just a knight household.
Still, my priorities are to either stay as far away from the capital as possible.
As I mull over my dilemma over my glass of grape juice, a gruff voice calls out, "Brat!"
I turn around and find myself face to face with a large muscular man in heavy armor. His scarred face and untamed grey hair screamed battle-hardened war veteran.
Judging by his apparel, he must be a pissed off guard who needs a drink.
Based off his tone, I must be in a restricted area.
Great, I'm no closer to solving my future crisis and I'm in hot water for just chilling on a balcony.
I'll play the good-natured ignorant guest and see how things play out, "Can I help good sir?"
"Rather than asking if I need help, it might be smarter to ask if you need it."
Was that a threat?
"No, it's not, your face is an open book. Also no, I'm not some guard here to arrest you for loafing around a balcony wanting to enjoy a quiet drink."
What!?
"I'm not a mind reader if that's what you're thinking. It's written all over your face. You're practically an open book."
"Who are you!?"
"Someone willing to train you as a knight if you're interested."
Clearly this man approached me with some intention, it's best to see his stance before I make a rash decision, "Why would I be interested?"
"I can tell, you're in a difficult situation right now and need power, am I correct?"
My eyes narrow, he hit the nail on the head.
Seeing my expression, the old vet asks again, "So how about it?"
Even in fantasy and video games, the concept of free lunch is nonexistent, "I don't get it, there's nothing in it for you."
"Do I need to give you a reason?"
Shady, very shady.
Let's see if this response will throw him off.
"Sorry if I come off a bit blunt, but I'd rather not be used as some disposable pawn."
"An annoying attitude, but people like you tend to live longer." He lets out a low chuckle, "So you in or no? I'm only hanging around tonight."
Hmm...
Let's process this logically, step by step.
One, dressed in armor, has lots of scars, clearly a seasoned warrior. I can definitely learn a few tips from this guy.
Two, this guy definitely has some unknown motive for recruiting me given how he's aware of some of my problems and seems to know more than he lets on.
Three, this is the Solyvr household. They would've placed strict emphasis on security, not to mention he needs to come from a clean background.
After weighing my options, I answer, "I accept the offer."
The old warrior grins, "Ha! Good! Just so you know, no takebacks. I ain't putting on gloves cuz your a kid. You want strength? Then you gotta earn it. I'm pulling out all stops.
Great! I'll come to your household tomorrow. Give you time to say goodbyes and all that."
Before I can even get a word out, the eccentric vet turned around and left.
All he did was walk, but for some reason, I don't know where he went or which direction he was headed.
Why do I have a gut feeling that this guy is one of those hidden master types?
Out of the blue, my father ran toward me and began relentlessly shaking my shoulders.
Wide-eyed, he started screaming, "Son! What did you discuss with Lord Elios!?"
I blink my eyes in confusion, "Lord who?"
"Lord Elios Solyvr! One of the top three swordsmen in our kingdom!"
...
It was my turn for my eyes bulge and my voice to become hysterical, "Whaaaaaaat!?!?"