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Chapter 19: The Player’s Legacy
Thud!
“That’s enough for today. You have improved a lot. I’m impressed.”
The daily routine at the training ground was unchanged.
There was Duke Dios, who looked satisfied and cheerful as if he had just sweated a bit, and there was Eurius, who lay on the ground like a dead man.
It was only after two days of starting this training that Eurius realized what Beatrix meant by a realistic practice.
‘This is just a training where I have to endure being beaten up!’
And there was another thing.
The Beatrix of his previous life had been very lenient with him.
‘Well, it might be different if he was the crown prince, but she couldn’t beat up the emperor like this.’
In fact, it didn’t matter much whether he was the crown prince or the emperor.
He had grown up in luxury and his idea of a harsh training was very different from that of the duke, who was the head of a martial family.
Count Carlos also had the ability to push him hard, but not to this extent. And his specialty was defensive swordsmanship, so it was ridiculous to ask him to beat up the crown prince, who was loyal to the imperial family. Eurius didn’t think that the duke’s guidance was wrong.
But unlike him, who was self-taught, the proven training method of a prestigious martial family had a different effect.
[Your swordsmanship skill has increased.]
[Your agility has increased.]
The player’s notification window, which used to appear very rarely, showed up much more frequently than when he trained at the imperial palace.
He relied on that and endured with superhuman patience. He endured this training, which was nothing but torture, for a whole month.
And there was someone who watched him with pity….
“Father seems to be having fun. Even our brothers couldn’t endure this training for more than two weeks, but Your highness has been enduring it for over a month….”
“Haha, I think I can still handle it. Ouch!”
The person who applied medicine and bandages to his bruised body was Beatrix. Seeing her face was one of the few comforts for Eurius in this harsh training.
But there was something he wondered about.
“Why are you doing this treatment yourself? You are a princess, you could have ordered a maid to do it.”
“….”
She was silent for a moment and then opened her mouth.
“I wanted to apologize for my rudeness at our first meeting, and I wanted to see your training. You are a rare and excellent knight.”
“I told you to forget about that…. Haha.”
As this cycle of beating and healing repeated, they became more familiar with each other and started to have conversations.
Of course, there was also this situation behind it.
“You know you were partly at fault for this incident, right?”
“Yes…. Father.”
“Then you should take care of His highness. And….”
Duke Dios smiled slyly.
“You didn’t forget the promise you made, did you?”
Beatrix had nothing to say. She didn’t even lose in a proper fight, she was subdued in one move!
“I trust that you won’t break your promise.”
“But he is the first prince of the empire.”
“That’s why I invited him here in the first place.”
The duke continued in a low voice.
“Even if it wasn’t a promise, do you think there is anyone like him? He is manly and has the status of an first prince. And from what I’ve seen, he is persistent and diligent. He is the best candidate.”
Beatrix had no choice but to obey since she had made a mistake.
“I will follow your instructions for now.”
And after a month passed, Beatrix became curious about this first prince.
He was only two years older than her. She had never met anyone of her age who could compare with her in swordsmanship.
In fact, this defeat had given her a great shock.
She didn’t think much about it at first because she was worried about causing a big accident to the emperor, but she lost to someone who wasn’t even from a martial family!
And despite her huge mistake, the first prince’s attitude was too kind.
“Please take good care of me. The duke is great, but he has no mercy. It’s too much.”
Even though he was covered with wounds, he spoke in a cheerful tone. She still didn’t know how to react to him.
‘He doesn’t seem to be flirting….’
The first prince didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives either.
Even though she touched his body as part of the treatment, he just acted calmly and sometimes joked with her.
But at the same time, there was something tender in his eyes when he looked at her.
This was a woman’s intuition. The first prince seemed to have some interest in her.
But he didn’t seem to have any ill intentions, so she couldn’t figure him out.
Of course, the reason for that was obvious from Eurius’s perspective. He looked younger on the outside, but he was already a married couple who had seen everything (?).
There was no reason to react to something as trivial as touching his body.
He had more urgent problems than that.
He had only one month left before going to the academy. He had to find a clue to reach the fourth stage somehow, but there was no clear progress in that direction.
‘If I can’t do it with the duke’s training, I’ll have to go and see for myself.’
His skills were improving every day. But he had a feeling that if he missed this opportunity, he would waste the next six months.
“I want to see Duke Dios.”
…
“Hehe, is there another way….”
The duke scratched his chin and looked at Eurius.
“This might sound like a rude request. But I really need to reach the fourth stage. Can you give me any hints?”
His earnest plea made the duke ponder for a moment.
“Then I have a question for you, Your highness.”
“What is it?”
The duke asked with a serious face.
“How did you create the [Core]?”
Eurius clenched his teeth as he expected this question.
‘As expected, I couldn’t hide it completely.’
In fact, he had hidden some of his skills to avoid revealing the core, which was why he had been beaten up so much. But the duke’s eyes were sharp.
It was a sensitive matter for the duke, as it was equivalent to leaking the secret of his family.
Eurius tensed up and started to talk about the player again.
“Actually…”
But the Duke of Dios showed an unexpected reaction.
He didn’t show any surprise at Eurius’s words, he just nodded his head.
“I see, that’s how it is.”
“……!?”
The duke paused for a moment and then continued.
“You must know that the Holy Kingdom is a nation founded by the [Great Saintess], who is a ‘player’.”
Eurius nodded his head.
He had a rough idea of what the duke was going to say.
“It seems that the [Core] is a secret related to the player as well.”
“That’s right.”
The duke agreed and resumed his story.
“Except for the imperial family of the Scharnos Empire, it is true that there is no descendant of the player on this continent. But even if not by blood, their influence remains in various places.”
“Ding!”
[Special Achievement: Information about the legacy of the player is unlocked.]
“……!?”
Eurius was startled by the sudden notification, but he maintained his expression in front of the duke.
“The creation of the Core is a secret left by one of the companions of the Great Saintess Demia, who was also a player and the first Crusader.”
That’s right. The most famous players were the three, including the Great Emperor Scharnos, but they also had many players as their subordinates or allies.
The first Crusader was not known by name, but he was one of the legendary knights who played the role of a reliable right-hand man for the Great Saintess, who had no special combat ability.
“But it’s really unexpected that the player’s ability is passed down in the form of a secret that can be inherited by anyone.”
If this was true, there might be other famous secrets that had the player’s ability!
As soon as he realized this fact, another notification rang in YEurius’s head.
[Quest: The Legacy of the Player is unlocked.]
[Quest means a mission that can increase your achievement if you complete it.]
[Your achievement increases with the unlocking of information about the player.]
[As your achievement increases, you will gain more access to the help menu.]
[The Legacy of the Player – There are traces of the [System] that the players used in this world in various forms. If you collect them, your achievement will increase.]
[Current list of collected legacies – Force Core.]
“But what does that have to do with reaching the fourth stage?”
It was a good thing that his achievement increased. But it didn’t seem to have much to do with reaching the next stage.
“I think it’s a clue.”
But the duke said firmly.
“In our Dios family or in the Scharnos imperial family, there are many people who reach high stages at a young age thanks to the benefits of the legacy left by the players.”
“Benefits…”
Come to think of it, that was true. The reason he reached this point at this age was partly due to his previous life’s memory, but also thanks to the [System].
“The fourth stage is a stage that breaks through the existing common sense. The absolute amount of training and such is almost meaningless.”
Finally, the duke left these words.
“Your highness has more than others. It would be good to make good use of what you have.”
“……”
“There is not only one way to reach the peak.”
The words of the duke, who was at the top of all warriors on this continent, were definitely weighty.
‘What I have…’
Eurius slowly looked back at what he had.
The first was his previous life’s memory.
He roughly knew all the events that would happen on this continent for the next twenty years. His previous life’s martial arts skills were also considerable. This was his biggest weapon.
The second was his solid foundation as a warrior.
He formed a quad core from the beginning and grew faster than anyone else in a good environment.
The third was [System]’s assistance.
He still didn’t know what a player was or what consequences it would bring, but he had come this far with great benefits.
He spent three days locked up in his residence without coming out, thinking deeply about all these things.