Level 0 Master

The next day, Sungjin quietly called for Ereka.

"Ereka, I have yet to learn of this world's customs," Sungjin explained with a pleading look.

"Yes… Sungjin. I have been complacent. It seemed as though you would know everything."

"No, well, I am the type to fight with strategies and knowledge. I'm not denying that."

Awkward humility was only a lie.

"But how long do you think I've been in this world? I've been busily thinking about war, dissecting enemy countries, and studying the battlefield all this time."

His brain was indeed impressive, but he was not the all-knowing.

He was truly busy gaining information exclusive to war and researching and thinking on it.

He had gone with the flow on several large and obvious etiquettes but had been truly ignorant of these secretive traditions.

"So, what I'm trying to say is that even though there may be different interpretations within the customs here, I would like you to take my words literally in my case."

"I see how it is."

"Yes. It is like that. So please, an event like yesterday…don't let it happen again."

Sungjin pleaded once again emphasizing his awkwardness.

"Yes, Sungjin. I will be more careful from now on."

"Thanks."

Sungjin left muttering how embarrassing it was to even talk of the memory.

Ereka reassured herself in the midst of feeling apologetic.

Aah. Still, it's a relief.

Even if she had brainwashed herself to be prepared, it came as a relief that the event was simply one large misunderstanding.

It was not like that.

That meant she still had a chance.

Although I do think he does not have anyone in mind…

Although he was simply trying to gain a teammate.

To turn from friends into lovers, from co-workers into a couple.

She had heard several stories like those.

However, those scenarios applied not only to Eustasia but also to her.

It means I still have a chance.

Watching her actions from far away, Eustasia breathed out a sigh.

She pouted while caressing her small but elegantly adorable breasts.

Even if the entire thing was a mistake, we had gone that far.

Whatever the reason, to think that she would be sent out after all that tension, was she so unattractive that she couldn't make another lose their reason to the wild?

She was strangely upset.

Hmph. Whatever. I was only so determined as a prisoner.

She did not have any intention of declaring an initiative after all.

Still…

For him to choose his future then his immediate greed...

It is very much like him.

She was upset but had to admit his decision made him favorably respectful.

She now knew it would be a long-term strategy of attacking the mind before the body.

So, he ultimately wants me not as a prisoner but as his teammate.

It was conflicting to have him treat her so well.

He was not the one she swore to protect after all.

But…how else was she to pay back the debt she owed him, if not with her body?

How troubling.

She smiled bitterly.

After a round of events, the day of the contest came.

Under the condition of giving up all their land, which both parties agreed to, Sungjin and the leaders of the three countries met on the battlefield.

Initially, in Sungjin's proposal, the three-nation alliance had agreed that they would be able to regain all of their lands back and more on an advantageous condition.

Before the fight, where both parties' fates were to be decided, Sungjin visited Eustasia one last time.

"I'll ask you for the last time before tomorrow's fight: Will you not change your mind?"

"You're very persistent."

"To offer the utmost loyalty is one of the virtues, I suppose?"

Honestly, Sungjin himself had never thought of pledging loyalty to an 'authority'. For someone who was born into a democracy, he found it rather sinful for those who were voted into the 'authority' to not use it for the people.

But that was his perception, and in the world of Valhalla, he accepted that 'loyalty' was one of the sacred virtues people could hold in this age and culture.

He would not be able to understand the others if he was so fixated on his judgmental values.

But just because I respect it, doesn't mean I should leave it alone.

Sungjin smirked.

The convincing he would have to do from now on was also a kind of victory. He had perceived that she had two main virtues as a warrior: her loyalty to the king and her love to the people.

To strain herself in finding the best solutions while maintaining both beliefs at heart, that was her.

And now, he had to convince her which of the two she should prioritize.

"But is that undefeatable?"

At Sungjin's question, Eustasia looked at him straightforwardly.

Feeling this was a matter of winning or losing, she threw away her position as a servant and faced him as a warrior.

Hence, it was also determined that she would die then and there, if push came to shove.

"I can't abandon the king just because he abandoned me. When a king is addled, it is the servant's duty to right his mind; I simply had not fulfilled my responsibilities."

"To each their own responsibilities. But if that is so, is it also the people's failure as the king's servants to correct him?"

"That…"

"Moreover, not everything is about loyalty when you are a member of the hero's ranks. Is it not your duty to look after the people too?"

"Kuk."

Eustasia lowered her head.

That was the only weakness she could not trust.

She wished her king was a bit more kingly, that he had been there for the people, despite his incompetence, and, at the very least, had not stepped on them.

Even if Sungjin was more brilliant, more powerful, and a more attractive man, even if he was the one which made a woman's heart waver, she would have been able to forfeit her life confidently while under the oath of loyalty until the very end.

But…

"Do think of the people. You know how many people are being sacrificed under the mad reign of Seyzo II. I've already decided to fight."

Sungjin petitioned respectfully.

"I only wish you were with me on this."

"I…It is not that I feel nothing towards the suffering of those unfortunate people…but…"

"A wise one in my world once said this phrase: It is the servant's duty to serve a king. But, one who commits tyranny is not a king, simply a passing nobody with a crown."

It was the words of Mencius.

But those words were convincing in a different world.

After all, words were the limit of loyalty, according to the founders of Confucianism, who believed in fidelity of loyalty.

To drag down the tyrant who abandoned the people was not treason or rebellion but a rightful stand blessed with heaven's will.

It was the reasoning of Mencius.

Eustasia's voice shook minutely.

"I know those words. It's a famous saying from a continent far south."

For a servant to turn against the king was disloyalty.

However, a king who abandoned all morals was not a 'king' but 'a sinner of tyranny;' therefore, one would be committing treason not disloyalty, as the oath was towards the 'king' and not the 'sinner'.

Other kings raged at the fact that loyalty was only given while they were 'king', but other heroes had validated this excuse once they had found a reason for a rebellion.

That reasoning was sometimes lost to whether it was being used for the 'people' when it was more often than not used for one's personal gains.

She looked towards the skies once more.

Yes…the people should not be sacrificed.

On that, she had no choice but to agree.

Did she not advise the king before death because she had thought the very same?

Although it was a saying passed across continents, she spoke the words engraved in her mind.

"If the king does not listen to the servant's advice after three attempts the servant excuses oneself."

"Ahh, yes. There was that too."

Sungjin smiled widely.

Although Confucianism was known for enforcing absolute loyalty it was not the truth. The educational systems on earth had taught it in that variant, but Mencius himself had said a tyrant was not a king.

There is no king to be loyal to in a democratic state.

This reasoning was foreign and new to this world.

If the reasoning of the people was similar to Ereka's, he had expected Mencius' words to go through.

A wrongful king may have abandoned her first, but she was too valuable to be buried with the talents she possessed.

The one-sided loyalty was a system that was useful for the nobility, but why must she run herself into the ground for a king who had done nothing for her?

He did not acknowledge people still had to be loyal to a king, even if the king stepped on one's individual rights.

But she had her own right to potential growth.

He did not wish for such a life to be stepped on.

"Yes, I do agree that my king no longer has the right to be called a king."

Eustasia ultimately nodded her head.

She could not deny it at this point, even if she wished for her king to become at least half of Sungjin, even a quarter's worth.

But the king she had pledged to was no longer simply incompetent but evil.

If Sungjin declared he was enforcing good to save people's lives and had to kill the king then she had no choice but to accept it.

He had to win this fight. It was the only way for the people to be saved. If he loses, too many would lose their lives under the madness of Seyzo II.

"Yes…I had said you had no right in the beginning. That it was pointless hope that would be shredded before reality. But now…"

Eustasia smiled bitterly.

"Yes, you do have the right to be the ruler of the four kingdoms."

He had the power and ambition to suppress all of the four kingdoms; she had already felt this after being defeated so many times in his hands.

But that was not all; there was a grand purpose: he wished to look after not only his people but for those of other kingdoms. The entire masses of the plains were to be his citizens. There was strength and purpose. She had no choice but to acknowledge his right as king.

"Then would you come with me?"

Sungjin reached out his hand.

He was confident he could do even better with her by his side.

He knew she would be the perfect long-range dealer on the path for him to becoming an Arc Master. On his path to constructing a nation, he also hoped it would be best for everyone to have a known general whose purpose was with the people.

Watching that exchange, Ereka silently smiled and nodded her head.

Lady Eustasia had finally changed her mind.

It was a relief. She had agreed with Sungjin that Eustasia's talents were too valuable to waste. Instead of Eustasia becoming a future long-term enemy, Ereka wished for her to save her good graces and talents. She knew it would help both Sungjin and the people.

"But still, no."

Eustasia shook her head firmly once more.

"Not me."

"Why?"

Eustasia gathered her breath. It was a secret she had been hiding since forever, and she had to say it now. He had given her his sincerity, and it was only right that she should reply with honesty.

"Because the king is my father."

"What?"

This was unexpected.

In the thousands of scenes that Sungjin had played out in his mind, this had not existed.

His eyes widened. Others around him dropped their jaws to the floor.

"Seyzo II…is Grand General Eustasia's father?"

"No way. Your father is Count Liland."

"To the general public, it is said so."

Eustasia replied solemnly.

"You are speaking the truth. Ha, that means the king has concealed this."

"Yes, I was born out of wedlock."

"This is even stranger. If you were born out of wedlock, you are royalty. Whether you were born of a consort or even a married woman, the king could have taken you in if he wished, especially since Seyzo II finds descendants precious."

Rittier doubted the truth of her words.

"Right. But only if the child was not born by an extra."

"What?"

"Usually a child born from a hero and an extra does not have skills. But there are rare circumstances, no?"

"That's you."

"Yes."

Eustasia spoke firmly.

This was the real reason she held warmth towards the extras, even in her status as a hero.

If she had received the royal heritage and followed in her father's footsteps as a naive elite she would have been a half with the flowing blood of the lower levels. She would have been an 'inconspicuous' child who was different from the normal third-ranking Minor.

"Per custom, it would have been normal to kill the bastard child. But…His Highness did not do so."

Eustasia mumbled sadly.

Killing was normal.

But watching his daughter's wiggling hands, the past Seyzo II had muttered that this child was his own and said, Don't worry. I will protect you.

Even a king had his limits, and he had crossed those limits and wandered across dangerous lines for his daughter.

He had plotted with the Count who had no heir. The king negotiated with him to turn this situation into a silent birth of the 'Count's daughter'. After examining the profits and losses, the Count agreed to be accepting of this girl.

Due to the Count's sudden death, she inherited his position, and the king silently supported her, secretly raising her to her current position.

She repaid his grace by unleashing everything she had in the war against Eldorado.