NOVEL WEB Chapter 4.1
Chapter 4: The Princess’s Mentor
The backdrop of The Seeker of the Eight Stars centers around a kingdom with a queen at its core. While adventurers occasionally venture into other lands through adventure mode, the main story unfolds mostly within this kingdom.
As such, the hero’s party frequently traveled in and out of the kingdom’s capital, and naturally, I had visited it a few times myself.
But this was the first time I’d actually met her.
After all, I was an unofficial member, not blessed by the gods.
Not that I cared much for such a blessing… but if that’s the way it was, so be it. I didn’t have any significant accomplishments tied to the royal family either, so I’d just accepted it and moved on.
But to think we’d meet like this.
“So, you are the Sage?”
Sitting on the throne was a beautiful woman with red hair, her exhaustion clearly evident. Wearing a golden crown that signified her status as queen, she looked haughty yet undeniably weary.
Though the Demon King had been defeated, her gaunt face suggested the world and the kingdom still faced great peril, giving her a somewhat decadent charm.
As she touched the dark circles under her eyes, the queen studied me closely and wet her dry lips with a sip of wine.
“Sage, I have heard of you a few times.”
“Is that so?”
“The Hero spoke of you often.”
“I, too, have heard of Your Majesty from the Hero a few times.”
“Is that so?”
The king had supported the Hero to defeat the Demon King.
I had supported the Hero for the same purpose.
Although our roles were the same, we were only aware of each other through the words of one woman.
“Sage… Sage… Sage.”
Muttering my title a few times with a slight pout, she let out a small laugh.
“Are you truly wise enough to be called a Sage?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I heard you know everything.”
“That’s not quite true.”
It was true.
The reason I was called the Sage was simply that I could use skills from other professions and knew the strategies and settings in detail from my ten thousand hours of gameplay.
I didn’t actually possess any extraordinary wisdom or anything like that.
“Lukal.”
“Yes.”
“Ask the Sage a question.”
At the queen’s command, an elderly mage with a pointy hat stepped forward.
The mage, who held a significant position in the game, posed several magical questions to me, and I shook my head.
“I don’t know.”
“…Hagen.”
The captain of the royal guard, Hagen Rosfield, a renowned warrior on the continent, brandished his sword in front of me.
“Do you know which swordsmanship this is?”
“I don’t know.”
“Saltbayken.”
“Under stars and skies…”
“I know nothing about astronomy.”
The distinguished individuals gathered for the queen continued to bombard me with questions, and I didn’t answer.
No, I couldn’t.
One needs to know to give an answer.
If they’d asked me about monster strategies or dungeon tactics, I could have provided answers…
But I had no way of answering theoretical questions that emerged as the game became reality.
“A Sage who knows nothing… Then why are you called the Sage?”
“I’m not sure.”
The queen’s gaze slowly lost its interest in me. Yet, she hadn’t told me to leave.
Which meant she still wanted something from me.
“Then what is it that you know?”
“What I know is merely how to live in this world.”
The audience chamber was so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Occasionally, a maid or a knight would breathe heavily, proving this place wasn’t frozen in time.
In the silence that followed my words, a glimmer of interest returned to the queen’s eyes.
“A way to live in this world… Is that important?”
“It is. Sometimes, people lose their way or isolate themselves because they don’t know how to live.”
“I see. I see…”
Though it seemed I had more to say, the queen abruptly cut me off, nodding several times.
Was I about to get dismissed?
As I watched, the queen spoke calmly.
“Very well. Head Maid, show the Sage the way.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
—
“He’s a strange one.”
“Indeed.”
He was a strange man. I’d heard many tales of the Sage, not only from the Hero but also from people within the kingdom.
He could use magic as well as healing arts, wield a warrior’s techniques and handle tools like a thief.
Along with excellent archery skills, he knew how to wield a sword and shield like a knight, and he even had knowledge of shamanism.
Beyond that, he knew strategies for hidden dungeons across the land, and he was well-versed in myths and secrets.
In other words, he was a man of vast knowledge and versatility.
To date, there has never been anyone like him, undoubtedly.
“The Sage appeared when the Hero first gathered a party, didn’t he?”
Anything special tends to stand out. But the Sage was different.
It was as if he had suddenly dropped into this world out of nowhere.
No one knew anything about his past, nor did anyone know where he came from.
Not only in the kingdom but also in the duchies and city-states.
At first, they suspected he might be a spy for the Demon King, so the kingdom investigated, but it turned out he wasn’t.
Though he wasn’t blessed by the gods, he traveled with the Hero’s party and supported them.
Even without any compensation.
Some wondered if he might be romantically involved with those three beautiful women, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
Their attitudes toward him were sharp and harsh.
Yet, he didn’t leave.
As if his sole purpose in life was to defeat the Demon King.
And as soon as the Demon King was vanquished, he left the Hero’s party. The rumors that followed were astonishing.
He cleaned the shabby stables of a rural inn on behalf of a sick innkeeper.
Or escorted a lost child back home.
He even destroyed an ogre’s lair to retrieve a keepsake lost by an old woman’s son.
He joined adventurers in clearing dungeons to protect an area and defeated a monster that was attempting to destroy an entire city.
Even so, his rewards were disproportionately small compared to the effort and power he expended.
Despite wielding skills from all professions and holding an unofficial position in the Hero’s party,
despite having played a crucial role in defeating the Demon King,he behaved as if such things were of no concern to him.
He saved people.
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