Chapter 81: Rise to Fame (3)

“Since a long time ago, I, along with the great sovereigns that came before me, have worked hard to achieve peace and comfort for the nobles and citizens. In addition, I have personally considered it my duty to build the land that promises a land of relief to the people.”

Swoosh! The royal scroll flapped open with a pleasing sound, and the messenger’s solemn voice pierced into his ears. So Lloyd thought to himself…

Crap. This is not good. Lloyd was now modestly kneeling before the royal messenger, and it was a relief that he had his head hung down. The royal messenger couldn’t see the look of dismay that was written on Lloyd’s face.

Message from the Queen. I feel like this comes with its pros and cons. Lloyd stole a glance to the side, and he found the baron on his one knee in a courteous fashion. The baron’s eyelids and brows trembled. The overwhelming sense of honor. The surging joy and happiness. The baron looked like the first-prize lottery winner sitting in the bank.

But Lloyd could understand the baron. After all, this place was a province. It was merely a barony stuck in the far-flung east corner. This tacky province would never ever see the visit of the monarch unless a great war breaks out or a historical disaster takes place for her to visit. But against all the odds, the royal messenger was here, reading out loud the message personally written by the queen herself.

It’s going to be an honor for generations to come from the baron’s perspective. What else would bring greater joy and honor than this? Lloyd’s expression grew a tad more complicated.

Well, it’s an honor for sure. Honor if we use it right. Lloyd could somewhat guess why the royal messenger was here.

It’s probably because of what happened back in Cremo. Lloyd got the work from the count and successfully created the marine artificial ground. Later, he took care of the Gigatitan that ambushed the city. The heroic story must have probably traveled to the queen’s ears as well. And that was why she wanted to commend his works and reward him.

Sure, I’m happy, but… Hmm. It’s a bit uncomfortable. This is the reason why I didn’t want to fight against the Gigatitan. Lloyd furrowed his brows, thinking how, indeed, true his words were. It’d have been best for him to come back after successfully finishing the construction subject. Get the construction fee and ask Count Cremo to connect him to the powerful people in large cities so he can get some more projects in his hands. And build a modest reputation that bags him some lucrative amount of profit. This was what Lloyd had in his mind, and that was as far as he planned to go.

That was my line. Right there. I shouldn’t have gone further. If I work my head off for a few years according to the plan, my debt will be gone. It was so according to his calculation. Half of his debt was already paid, and the interest amount lowered to a good degree. Moreover, he had the monthly water bill from Lacona viscounty, which covered the interest and some savings. As such, Lloyd didn’t need anything more. Doing more would be detrimental.

I just need to clear the debt. That’s all. Just stay within the lines where I don’t take projects of exceeding scales. Otherwise, I might fall into a mishap where I’ll have to work even after paying the debt.

All of this, working and hustling, was only meant to pay the debt. After that, he didn’t want to work anymore. No more living hard. He had already done a sickening amount of work back in South Korea. It was tiring. And so, he had not an iota of the plan to spend the rest of his life here in such a fashion. The pearls and golds hardly looked desirable. He merely wanted to laze around his entire life as a noble in this province.

Three fattening meals. Reading books and goofing around. Riding horses if things get boring. Meet a woman who clicks with me and get married. No more trying hard. Just live a comfortable life with my children and family. That’s exactly the life I wish for right now.

But this very moment, an unexpected variable was trying to butt in his plan. The first one was the fight against the Gigatitan, which wasn’t what he wanted at all. And after some laborious efforts to stay alive, he found himself accomplishing something big, eventually making his name known to the queen.

Whew… What should I do? He was happy, but at the same time, flustered. Just then, he recalled the days back when he was in the military.

I was like this when I was in a uniform. I didn’t know then but living a modest middle-class lifestyle is the best way to live. It was true. It must be when he was a private. On the first day of his deployment after finishing the basic military training, the administrative officer of the company shot Lloyd a question as soon as he came.

“Would you look at that? Degree in civil engineering? Can you shovel?”

When Lloyd heard that, he was sitting ramrod straight on a chair in the administrative office. And in a loud, disciplined voice that reflected his new recruit spirit, Lloyd yelled that he could do it.

That was the beginning of my misfortune. Lloyd heaved a sigh. His own thoughtless answer became the reason behind his downfall in the military. From that day onward, he was turned into a personal summon partner of the administrative officer. Thrown into all sorts of construction projects, Lloyd repaired the water pipes, guard posts, and outskirt fences and built the football field in the company. The repair work never came to an end. Once he was done with the field, he moved on to work with the laundry drying machine, and then the battalion’s food waste disposal. One repair would be finished only to start another.

And later, I was called in for lawn mowing and welding! Thanks to that, he mastered welding, which he had never fathomed of. Stuck in Yeoju, the rear unit in Gyeonggi province, Lloyd spent more time working and building stuff than learning training tactics, even when he was part of the mechanical force. He got on the handcart more than the armored car and got his hands on the shovel more than the rifle. Half of his years were spent as a laborer. And they even tried to make him stay in the military when his discharge day came near. Indeed, Lloyd received the offer to become the staff sergeant in the military. But he had enough of the military. So he rejected them, which he regretted a little when his life became tougher for him as a civilian.

Anyway, I mustn’t put myself out there too much. The rumor of my good skills shouldn’t have spread too far. Otherwise, I’m going to get pestered by the higher-ups. Unfortunately, however, that very thing was happening right now based on the words the royal messengers tirelessly read out loud.

“Therefore, the news of Cremo gripped me with concerns… Blah blah… I was overjoyed to hear about the accomplishment of the valor and sacrificing spirit of the young noble and his personal knight… Blah blah… I shall personally honor the achievements of these two men.”

Haa. Please do not summon me to the kingdom, or maybe you can call me when things relax around here? Lloyd had to work on the reclaimed Maritz land, and the coal business was about to begin. He was an exceedingly busy man. He internally pleaded to the monarch with all of his heart, but the solemn voice showed no mercy.

“Here ye! To commend the achievement, Lloyd Frontera and Javier Asrahan are hereby invited to the kingdom. The two people are ordered to travel immediately to the royal capital. January Year 617. Declared by Queen Alicia Termina Magentano in Magenta the royal capital.”

Fwip! Tap! The scroll made a pleasant noise as it rolled up. There was such a smoothness in the messenger’s maneuver that made Lloyd wonder if the messenger had practiced it all day. At the same time, the shoulders of the baron, who was on his knees, shivered. He started to wail in overwhelming sensation, tears streaking down his downcast face.

“Uhm… Waa…! Wa, waaa!!”

“Baron Arcos Frontera, lift up your gaze,” instructed the royal messenger.

“Sniff…! Sniff…!”

“You must be proud your son. Truly, you’ve got an amazing son.”

“It’s, it’s, it’s an honor!! Sniff!!”

Ding Dong.

[Your likeability with Arcos Frontera has increased by nine points.]

[Current RP with Arcos Frontera: +56]

[You have earned 90 RP by greatly improving your relationship with the main character.]

[Current RP: 2,036]

Woah. Lloyd sighed at length. At this point, he was out of options. It reached the point of return. Oh, well. Now that it has come to this point, I have to do it right.

Things have changed for Lloyd, and he ought to think of ways to draw the most profit out of them. Expediting his timetable for clearing his debt didn’t seem entirely bad. No, it might be better depending on how he used the opportunity. Once he finished adding up the numbers in his head, Lloyd lifted his head, his face beaming.

“I, Lloyd Frontera, accept Her Majesty’s order.”

And just like that, Lloyd decided to travel to the royal capital, which was the same as passing the bar with flying colors just by studying the night before.

♣

A festival was held in the Frontera barony. The time was right as it was winter, the time of the year when fields required only a few workers. Residents warming themselves up on the heated floor gathered up, and the ambiance felt like the village saw a bar passer after acing the test.

Hanging just a few pamphlets on a utility pole would really help set the mood. Lloyd had the sudden thought as he watched the festival. There was so much vivacity now, and for a good reason. This fiefdom had been absent of dreams and hopes. Lloyd was the young master who gave himself to daily drinking and troubled everyone. But he completely changed one day. Something seemed to have knocked some sense into him because he started to live an industrious life and began several successful projects. He made fortunes, pushing away the dark atmosphere in the barony that fell because of the scammers. And now, the young master received an order from Her Majesty. He was ordered to come to the royal capital to retrieve a large award. That alone made these innocent provincial residents straighten their backs with pride. In fact, it would considerably benefit all the people.

“It’s going to encourage their spirits. Not only that, they will be treated better when they meet others from another fiefdom. They wouldn’t be looked down upon so easily and enjoy some small profits when trading goods.”

“Hmm, I guess you mean they won’t be looked down on for being a ‘country bumpkin’ from now on.”

“Something similar, yes.” Lloyd nodded as he heard his answer. Javier made sense.

After all, this fiefdom is likely everything to the people here. The Frontera barony was their hometown and their livelihood, and this event improved the reputation of the fiefdom. Their fiefdom had received a royal order and award from Her Majesty, which would become a achievement other people in the province couldn’t easily downplay.

Makes sense that people will be filled with pride. I mean, it’s a human psychology for humans to feel proud when a soccer or baseball team they cheer for win in a game. That was commonplace in the modern world. A particular team clinched victory in a champion’s league, with the most popular athlete in the team scoring the winning goal and carrying the game. That surefire guaranteed online forums to go wild in a frenzy. Lloyd had seen it happen many, many times.

Everyone goes berserk even when they get nothing in return. It was human psychology to go wild for a soccer athlete who lives on the other side of the world and has zero connections to them by school, friendship, or family, absolutely no connections at all. Given that, what did they get out of this happy event in this fiefdom? And the royal order? It’d directly and indirectly profit the people. It was even more so because the man who received the order from Her Majesty was set to become their lord in the future. That was why they were holding the festival in exhilaration. That was why everyone’s eyes grew beady and glimmering every time they came across Lloyd, as if he was a member of VTS, the idol group.

Well, thanks to that, I earned additional RP. He had received 100 from the baroness, 30 from Sir Bayern, and 70 from the residents. Of course, the RP was faithfully saved. He thought of upgrading his manaheart skill, but he held back, thinking that he might find himself in a more dire situation again.

Just because I level up my manaheart skill and get stronger, it doesn’t mean that it’s good. Skills had to be upgraded according to the situations he was in. Lloyd could only respond to various situations only if he did that. It was the case in the ant cave and during the fight against the Gigatitan. As such, Lloyd decided to store his RP like a bear getting ready for hibernation. The only thing that he pampered himself with was some seeds to transform his summon creatures.

[You have purchased 100 sets of sunflower seeds.]

[Purchase price: 100 RP]

[Current RP: 2,136]

Preparation to travel to the royal palace took place step by step. But Lloyd prepared more than the trip. He had a bigger picture in mind. Since the monarch kindly got me a stage for me to perform, I think it’s only right for me to make sure that I make the most out of it.

With such a decision in mind, Lloyd came up with a plan, skipping sleep for several nights. And at last, the morning of the departure rolled in. And his master plan was ready to take off to completely clear the barony’s debt once and for all.