Chapter 87

<The Emperor's Call
The emperor is calling you.
Difficulty Level: F
Quest Rewards: None
Significant drop in affinity with the Emperor for refusing quests.
As Revil finished speaking, a quest appeared.
"…"
Ming Hu looked at the quest, then at Revil, then back at the quest, and thought.
'What the. Suddenly.'
Something really out of the ordinary happened: the emperor called him.
"What is it?
I looked at the quest and realized I hadn't misheard.
"What the hell…
That made it even more puzzling. Why would the Emperor suddenly want to see him? It was baffling, even more so than the arrival of the leaders of the Order.
"Would you like to go?"
At Revill's question, Ming Hu sighed inwardly. If he didn't go, his closeness to the Emperor, the master of the empire, would be greatly diminished. It was a quest he couldn't refuse, even if he wanted to.
"Let's go."
[You have accepted the quest].
The quest acceptance message appeared and Revil began walking ahead of you. Ming Hu followed Revil out of the forge and continued walking.
Jumbled
"This NPC seems to have high status.
After walking alongside Revil for a while, Ming Hu looked behind him and thought. He had met more than twenty nobles along the way. But Revil had never greeted them first. All of them had approached him, greeted him gently, and bowed to him.
"He's the emperor's man.
As it turns out, this NPC was brought to you by the Emperor. Naturally, he couldn't be of low status.
Jumbled
And so it was that Ming Hu, walking once more at Revil's heels, soon found himself in front of a building larger and more ornate than any he had seen on the way.
"This is the place."
Revil, who had not spoken a word on the way, opened his mouth and spoke. From his words, Ming Hu knew that this was where the emperor was.
'Wow. That looks really expensive.'
Once inside the building, Ming Hu looked at the paintings, statues, and other decorations on either side of the hallway and thought to himself, "I've never seen anything like this before." A few doors later, Revil stopped walking.
"Your Imperial Majesty, this is Revill."
"Uh, come on in."
As Revil spoke, the Emperor's voice came from inside the door. Revil heard the Emperor's voice, glanced at Ming Hu, and opened the door.
Profit
"Let's go."
At Revil's words, Ming Hu stepped inside the door.
[You have completed the quest].
Once inside, a quest completion message popped up, but Ming Hu didn't have time to pay attention to it.
"You're here."
The emperor, who was at work, rose from his seat to greet Ming Hu. He walked over to Ming Hu and extended his hand to shake his, saying
"This is Alkan, currently leading Helioca."
"Ah…long live Myung-Hoo."
Ming Hu took Alkan's hand in his own and shook it.
"Please have a seat."
After shaking hands and returning to his seat, Alkan pointed to the chair in front of him. Ming Hu sat down in the chair and looked at Alkan. When he saw Ming Hu sit down and look at him, he opened his mouth to speak.
"Let me ask you straight up: Are you a Secret Knight?"
"…What?"
Ming Hu's question was met with a question from Alkan. Secret Knight?
"The sorcerer said…"
But Ming Hu understood from Alkan's next words why he had sought him out, and why the magic masters had sought him out.
"You're the Secret Knight."
"…The Secret Knights.
The magical masters were under some sort of illusion, thinking they were the Secret Knights, but Ming Hu knew nothing of the Secret Knights. Perhaps reading his mood, Alkan frowned slightly and spoke again.
"Secret Knights… is that right?"
At Alkan's question, Ming Hu thought for a moment about how to answer. But he soon realized that he didn't have to think about it, so he opened his mouth and spoke.
"No, I don't know what Secret Knights are, but I'm not one, I'm a blacksmith."
Whatever the Secret Knights were, Ming Hu thought Alkan would be disappointed with his answer.
"Not Secret Knights, but…"
But Alkan looked at Ming Hu with a more intrigued expression, and then, with a smile, he looked at Ming Hu and muttered quietly to himself.
"A regular blacksmith who isn't even a Secret Knight… that kind of ability?"
Alkan was intrigued by the way Ming Hu was looking at him, and so was he. From what he'd heard from the mage masters, Ming Hu had shattered the shields of a mage slightly weaker than the masters with a single punch.
'Not from a blacksmith who isn't even a Secret Knight.
The leaders of the Mage Corps are all 7th Circle Masters, and being slightly weaker than them means you're close to being a 7th Circle Master. For a mere blacksmith to shatter the shields of such a mage with a single punch would be ridiculous.
"What is it?
Alkan looked at Ming Hu warily. Judging from his reaction, he couldn't be sure, but he didn't think he was a Secret Knight. But he couldn't be an ordinary blacksmith either; he was far too powerful for that. Alkan was really curious about Ming Hu's identity.
'One thing's for sure. It's good for the Empire.
We don't know who he was, but he was certainly not a detriment to the empire, and his contributions to the empire were enormous for a commoner.
'A blacksmith hiding great power…'
Alkan looked at Ming Hu and thought for a moment.
"I said no to Secret Knights…
Alkan paused for a moment, then spoke up.
"Do you want to be a noble?"
* * * * *
<emperor's man
Alkan Helioca, Emperor of the Helioca Empire, is very interested in you, a man of great power, but who lives a simple life as a blacksmith. He wants to make you one of his own by giving you a job that will allow you to keep an eye on the nobles, fight corruption, and more. Become the Emperor's man, do his bidding, and bring honor to the Empire!
Difficulty Level: F
Quest Reward: Emperor's Mark
Ming Hu looked at the quest, looked at Alkan, and said.
"So… You're asking me to take a position where I watch over the nobility, root out corruption… and do the bidding of the Emperor?"
"Right."
Alkan nodded in response to Ming Hu's words. Ming Hu thought to himself as he listened to Alkan's answer.
"It's a passive voice.
was a complete passive voice.
'It'll give me a lot of credit…'
It didn't say exactly what they did, only that they monitored the nobility and cracked down on corruption, but somehow it seemed to give them a lot of credit. Ming Hu hesitated, then opened his mouth to speak.
"I will."
[You have accepted the quest].
[You have completed the quest].
Upon acceptance, a completion message appeared.
"Hold on."
Alkan smiled in response, rose from his seat, went into a room to the left of the Oval Office, and soon emerged with a box.
Jaw
Alkan set the box down in front of Myung Hu and returned to his seat.
"Open it."
Sigh
As soon as Alkan's words left his mouth, Ming Hu opened the box and examined its contents. Inside was a square plate the size of Ming Hu's palm. In the center of the glowing square was the symbol of the Helioca Empire, and beneath it was the emperor's seal.
"Is this the emperor's mark?
Ming Hu picked up a square plate that was supposed to be the emperor's seal.
[You have earned the Emperor's Mark].
As expected, the square plate turned out to be the emperor's seal. When Ming Hu held it up, Alkan opened his mouth to speak.
"That's my mark, that's who I am, and in the course of my work, I'll often be hunted down by nobles or killed, and if I show that mark, it will save my life."
"Oh, I see."
Ming Hu replied to Alkan's words and placed the mark in his inventory.
"Wait…
Then I realized something wasn't right.
"Hunted or killed?
I hadn't misheard him; he said that if you were being chased or killed, showing the sign would save your life.
'…'
Ming Hu stared blankly at Alkan. Alkan looked at Ming Hu, who looked at him blankly.
"We'll just keep doing what we're doing for now, and I'll call you if something happens."
"Oh, yeah."
At Alkan's words, Ming Hu stood up from his seat and walked out of the office. Once outside the office, Myung Hu opened his inventory and took out the token. He was still in a daze.
"…after."
Ming Hu let out a short sigh and checked the information on the mark.
[Not Tradable]
Restrictions: Clear skies
The emperor’s mark, the mark is the emperor. If you have the mark, you can get help from nobles in any city. Of course, not all nobles will help you.
“Ho ho, can I get some help?”
Aside from what Alkan said, the proof had some pretty good options.
“Let’s just… Let’s go get some karma.”
Ming Hu put the token back into his inventory and started walking toward the forge.