Golden Experience

However, once you enter this floor, the doors inside don’t seem to have significant security measures. The separation between items appraised and those not appraised probably serves only a classification purpose.

Thanks to leaving Kenzaki here, there was no difficulty in intrusion. It seems that magical keys don’t have a barrier-like effect on the entire space.

The next challenge is to escape from this floor, but if entry is possible, escape should be easy.

In advance, Lyra has rare minions patrolling.

Kerry and the others have finished their job in the city of Connaitre.

Although this country is predominantly human, it’s not entirely devoid of beast people. Knights are extremely rare, but not nonexistent. Besides, since they usually cover themselves entirely in armor, their original race is not apparent.

<Finished. How about your side?>

<Thanks. It’s going quite smoothly. Hey, your subordinates are surprisingly competent. They might be better than my knights. Right now, they’re coordinating with the attack squad I summoned earlier and searching for royalty and nobility within the castle. The one by my side is… Kerry, was it?>

<Understood. Then let’s aim for Kerry.>

Rare gripped Kenzaki and activated [Camouflage] to hide her presence and cast [Summon].

They arrived in a spacious area with a luxurious red carpet laid out.

Seems like an audience chamber.

[Camouflage] doesn’t completely hide the effects, and some people are looking in their direction.

But since nothing came out of the gate, their attention quickly returned to Lyra.

“…I thought you had summoned knights or something, but it seems to have failed.”

A man sitting in the center of the audience chamber, looking like a king, spoke with contempt.

From the situation, he seems to be the king.

Knights stand at all entrances of the audience chamber, swords drawn, guarding the outside. About four nobles or royals are seated in the center of the room, surrounded by knights with drawn swords. The corpses on the floor are likely those who resisted.

<What about the four in the middle? Is one the king? What about the other three?>

<The others are probably his close aides. Prime minister, queen, and minister of agriculture, I think?>

<Isn’t the queen part of the royal family? Huh, minister of agriculture? Why?>

<The queen doesn’t have royal blood. As for why there’s a minister of agriculture… I don’t know, but it doesn’t really matter.>

Considering the timing of the official site update and Lyra eliminating the royal family, it’s clear that the nation of Hiers has ceased to exist. According to the official information, the royal family of Hiers has been proven to be completely wiped out. However, it’s unlikely that only those directly related to the royal family hold the rights to the throne. Lyra and Rare speculate that it might be individuals recognized by the country as having the right to inherit the throne, regardless of blood lineage. If they manage to eliminate everyone with the right to inherit the throne of Aural, the coup should be complete.

Initially, Lyra had no reason to completely exterminate the royal family. However, even if they only defeat the king, they might be pursued by his children, lineage, or the country itself. In that case, it’s simpler to take over the entire country and deal with anyone who comes after them. If they are attacked by hidden children later, the other party would be the criminal. If they can handle it openly, it’s just an opportunity for experience points for Lyra.

At first, Lyra didn’t plan to act so quickly, so she hadn’t planned anything. However, if Rare, the ‘calamity’, fully cooperates, it changes the situation. In reality, Rare has more cards in hand than Lyra anticipated.

“Let’s see, I think there’s the first prince, second prince, and the first princess left. Prime minister, anyone else?”

But the man who seems to be the prime minister doesn’t answer. To be honest, Rare doesn’t know which one is the prime minister.

No one is willing to speak.

“…It can’t be helped. [Charm].”

However, there’s no change.

Lyra raised her eyebrows uncomfortably.

“It won’t work. My goodness, my [Mental Magic] is not working at all these days.”

“You can’t get through, you pervert. We are the rulers of a country. It is only natural that we should be the first to train our minds.”

We can’t run a nation if our minds are under someone else’s control. The experience points gained from knights are likely redistributed to the knights, and the rest is probably allocated to MND for mental magic resistance or VIT for poison resistance.”

<Should I give it a try? I’m probably better at it than Lyra.>

<… What should I do? If we show Rare’s appearance, we’ll have to deal with all four here.>

<Wasn’t that your intention from the start? If you want to leave one alive, maybe spare the princess and search for her?>

Initially, Lyra planned to kill all members of the royal family. However, in that case, like Hiers, Aural might officially be judged as destroyed. After all, the original royal family is no longer present.

To minimize the perception of weakness, keep only one member of the royal family alive and [Subordinate] that character.

By doing this, prevent Aural from disappearing from the official site and make the coup appear scenario-wise harmonious to the players.

If they want to emphasize a change in power through the coup, it’s preferable to control a royal who is not the current king, perhaps a direct child.

Make either the prince or princess a subordinate of Lyra, let that person inherit the throne, and complete the transfer of power.

Present this coup as initiated by true knights and nobles responding to the aspirations of young royal family members who cared for the country.

<If the princess manages to escape and Blanc accidentally kills her… That would be troublesome. But I’ve met the princess and I don’t think she’s the type to run away first.>

<In that case, just crush everyone and then pretend to be a surviving royal, fleeing to another country with an artifact?>

<My face is pretty well known among NPC nobles, so I’m not sure… I wouldn’t mind being fed at Rare’s place.>

Since she’s a noble, it would be preferable to make the most of her position.

<Let’s try if I can use [Charm] while keeping myself hidden. I just need to make sure they don’t realize I’m Rare, right? My [Charm] bonus isn’t just about appearance, so it’s worth a try, probably.>

<You don’t need skills if you’re showing your face, Rare-chan. Everyone will drop dead at just a glance.>

<Enough with that.>

“[Charm].”

She aimed for the king, but there was no change. It’s impressive that the king, who is resisting Rare’s [Mental Magic] as the Demon Lord, doesn’t even notice being charmed.

<Impossible.>

<Well, then there’s no choice. You can come out now.>

She canceled [Camouflage]. To attract as little attention as possible, she wrapped all her wings around her body.

The sudden appearance of the pure white being caused a commotion among the four.

“!?”

“What, who are you!”

“Hugelcup’s Lord and… the same face…!?”

“Oh, a demon…? Does Lord Hugelcup have a connection with monsters!?”

Without wings, Rare apparently looks like a demon. Are there monsters called demons on this continent? It can’t be goblins, at least. If that’s the case, this man, whether he’s the prime minister or a minister, is unforgivable.

“Well, whatever. Let’s finish the job first. [Stupefy]. [Charm].”

Even though she took the risk of revealing herself, failure is not an option. She prepared for it with [Stupefy] just in case.

It worked. There was a strong conviction. The man who seems to be the king is looking at Rare with a dazed and cloudy gaze.

“Your Majesty? Your Majesty!”

The queen next to him shakes the king, but there is no change. Such a level of [Charm] won’t break.

“… Answer Lyra’s question.”

Approaching the king, Rare whispered in his ear.

“… Can we talk calmly now? Well, Your Majesty. Please tell me who holds the right to the throne of this country.”

“… Queen Augusta, the first prince Gunther, the second prince Rudolf, and the first princess Cecilia.”

“Huh, the queen also has the right? “

“The queen is my cousin, that’s why.”

<Well, isn’t that something…>

<We didn’t check the queen’s family. It’s unexpected. Well, at least we know now.>

With only Kerry here, the other three are probably cooperating with Lyra’s knights, searching inside the castle. She sends a friend chat.

<Riley, Remy, Marion, the targets are the first prince Gunther, the second prince Rudolf, and the first princess Cecilia. If you find someone who looks like them, bring them to the audience chamber. Dead or alive doesn’t matter but I want at least one of them alive.>

However, she can’t give orders to Lyra’s knights, and if they go outside, Blanc and her mormos will probably kill them.

It would be troublesome if that happens, but that’s it.

Rare is just playing around, cooperating with Lyra. As Lyra said earlier, it’s about the moment when it happens.

This kind of, what should I call it, carefree gameplay or an outlook from a higher perspective, where everything is fine no matter how it rolls, has a strange sense of pleasure and ease.

This is what Rare originally wanted for her enjoyable gameplay. The current Rare can be considered an “enjoy-player”.

“Well then, let’s see. We probably don’t need the prime minister and the minister of agriculture anymore, right?”

When Lyra signals, the four knights move, and they take the two old men to a separate room.

They will probably take care of them there.

Rare might do it on the spot, but perhaps they are considering the queen’s mental state.

Her husband’s mind is being manipulated, and the future for her children is not bright. Moreover, her retainers are dying in front of her. She might act recklessly.

<Boss, I’ve found someone who seems to be the first princess.>

<Thank you. Kindly escort her to the audience chamber for an inspection.>

“Excuse me.”

The knight opened the door to the audience chamber, and Riley entered with a woman dressed like a maid.

“Oh? Welcome back, um, Riley, was it? And the girl… dressed as a maid, but Princess Cecilia?”

“Yes, she is presumed to be the princess. It seems she exchanged clothes with a maid.”

Lyra was surprised at Riley’s response.

“… I see. You didn’t recognize her by her face.”

“I didn’t, but the hands of the woman wearing the princess’s clothes were rough. And this girl’s hands are still clean. Just in case, I brought the maid as well.”

Behind them, one of Lyra’s knights was bringing a woman dressed as the princess.

<Yeah… she’s amazing.>

<Indeed.>

“─Lyra-sama! Why would you do such a thing!”

The princess in the maid outfit suddenly tried to run towards Lyra. However, Riley grabbed her arm, preventing her from doing so.

“… Princess Cecilia, I didn’t want to do something like this. But there was no other choice!”

<Looks like something’s starting.>

<Just be quiet for a moment.>

Lyra looked down, rubbed her face with the back of her hand, pretending to wipe away tears.

“I have long recommended to other royal families to take refuge in our castle in case of exile. Unfortunately, King Hiers, who is here, heard about it and, unbelievably, ordered me to assassinate the Hiers royal family who had fled and seize the artifact they possessed!”

<I’ll leave following-up in your care.>

<It can’t be helped.>

This Princess Cecilia sees only Lyra in her eyes. Rare, having disappeared with [Camouflage], whispered into the king’s ear, still under the influence of [Charm].

“Ah. Wrong, not here.”

“!”

The queen tried to say something, but it was canceled with [Stupefy].

“… Father… Why?…”

Rare whispered something plausible to the king’s ear.

“… Yeah… the Hiers… royal family are pigs. Such beings are nothing more than livestock in our country. Killing them… what’s wrong about it?”

In reality, Rare never had the chance to meet the Hiers royal family and had to part ways with them forever. She has no idea what kind of people they were.

“… How awful…”

The princess broke down in tears. Since Riley was still holding her arm, she looked like an alien being held by one arm.

Lyra slowly approached and knelt in front of the princess.

“Princess Cecilia, I stood up for righteousness. I cannot allow such barbarism to go unchecked.

Your Highness, would you please become the queen of this country in place of His Majesty?

If you do this, then this Lyra shall give my allegiance to you, your highness.

─Yes, like this. [Subordinate].”

For a moment, all the strength drained from the princess’s body, but she quickly stood up.

“─Of course. Lyra-sama. I will defeat my father and rule this country under Lyra-sama.”

<… Was this little act necessary?>

<It should have saved the trouble of [Stupefy] and such. Maybe he was in a state of natural self-doubt or something.>

Is that how it works? Certainly, it was proven during the battle with Sieg that eliminating resistance during [Subordinate] by defeating in combat works. [Mental Magic] induces mental abnormality, so if they are already in that state, there may be no need to cast it deliberately.

However, in Rare’s opinion, it is overwhelmingly faster to cast [Stupefy] or [Control].

“Well then, I guess that’s enough.”

She canceled [Camouflage] and spoke directly. Since only Rare and Lyra have the ability to use friend chat among those present in this place, communication is difficult without speaking out loud.

“Who are you…!”

Oh, right, the queen is still here. She probably understands that this entire farce is orchestrated by Lyra and the mysterious creature Rare.

“Oh, what should I do…”

“Why not just enslave all the royal family already? They probably have their own knight order and attendants. It would likely significantly increase our fighting strength.”

“… Well, the thing is, [Subordinate] on Noble Humans doesn’t come with bonuses. Also, the cost is heavy, so it’s tough to continue doing it today…”

“…Bonuses? Cost? What are you talking about?”

“Eh?”

According to Lyra’s explanation:

“In the Noble Human race tree, the [Subordinate] skill that can be acquired has a bonus effect on the success rate for enslaving lower-ranking races close to the caster, in this case, Humans. The cost of activating [Subordinate] involves consuming LP and MP. However, the consumption amount varies depending on the rank of the successfully enslaved target. It’s not much of an issue for races like Humans, but as the distance to the target race increases, the cost becomes heavier.

I thought it would be fine for Noble Humans since they are close, but the LP taken by the current princess’s [Subordinate] is over 20%. It seems the proximity of higher-ranked races doesn’t affect it. So, giving it to the two of them right away carries a high risk.”

If that’s how the system works.

However, upon further thought, Blanc’s [Subordinate] had a constraint where all subordinates turned into undead. In other words, even if they share the same name [Subordinate] skill, each might have subtly different effects. The reason for having the same skill name despite different effects is mostly imaginable.

As seen in Rare’s [Horns], there might be skills or features that grant bonuses to [Subordinate]. It seems they are bundled together to enhance or resist various aspects.

“I see, I’ve learned something. Thank you.”

“No, it’s not ‘thank you.’ Huh? Is Rare-chan’s [Subordinate] similar? Or is it really different? Tell me.”

“Thank you, big sister!”

“Ugh! N-no, I won’t be fooled. Tell me!”

However, when she checked the [Subordinate] skill unlocked upon becoming a High Elf, there were no bonuses when targeting Elves, just as Lyra mentioned. However, as Lyra said, the cost was heavy. If there were drawbacks similar to Lyra’s, then the displayed cost should be a basic value, and it might increase depending on the target.

Compared to Rare’s [Subordinate], Lyra’s [Subordinate], and Blanc’s [Subordinate], the High Elf’s seemed to have significant drawbacks, no apparent benefits, and was challenging to use. Perhaps High Elves were not suited for increasing subordinates.

Upon further consideration, Rare reincarnated as a High Elf when she brought the World Tree under control. It was strange that becoming a High Elf unlocked [Subordinate]. Normally, it would be impossible to reincarnate as a High Elf through regular means.

Did High Elves have special items like the ‘Blue Blood’ in Noble Humans?

“Are you listening?”

“… If you help me, I can tell you.”

“Well, it depends on the content.”

“One is to conquer this continent. Wipe out all human race nations and expand the territory of monsters. It would be better if all those territories were under my control. Ah, you can consider this country already conquered.”

“I won’t guarantee success, but helping with that is fine. Anyway, for me, I’ll probably be playing in that direction from now on. There’s another thing, right? What’s next? How many are there?”

There are two. She intended to say that, but she hesitated whether to reveal it or not.

“… Another one is to search for a specific player. I know the names of some, but…”

“Ah! The guys who killed Rare-chan! Yeah, I know them too. Saw it on the celebration thread. Ouch!”

This was why she didn’t want to say it. But if she already knew, it would make things easier.

Then, Rare explained the current specifications of the [Subordinate] she was using and also how to acquire it. However, acquiring it would deplete Lyra’s reserved experience points, and Lyra strongly objected.

But, in reality, there was not much time left.

During the explanation, a message from Blanc came. Lyra’s knight order was on the verge of being wiped out.

They had challenged the knight order defending the capital of a kingdom with just the private soldiers of a local lord. Although the main goal was the chaos in the city, it couldn’t be prolonged for long.

The two princes seemed to be dealt with, so if they could somehow manage the king and queen, the mission would be completed.

Once they were taken care of, some of the knights on the kingdom’s side fighting outside would likely fall as well. However, it also meant a decline in the overall military power of Aural. If Lyra were to play with this country in the future, weakening it too much would be undesirable.

Rare found it troublesome, forced Lyra to drink Life Potions and Mana Potions, and insisted on using [Subordinate]. Even if Rare were to use it herself, it would only complicate matters.

“Oh, that’s right. Tell Blanc to confirm the faces of the two princes they dealt with. Since the princess was in disguise, the princes might have done the same.”

“Yeah, I’ll let him know. But more importantly, about what you mentioned earlier.

If there are such restrictions on Lyra’s [Subordinate], then you probably had no idea how much [Subordinating] the Calamity itself would demand in terms of cost, right? What were you planning to do?”

“Guh, I had planned to research more about methods to increase the success rate or reduce the cost. But Rare-chan came too early…”

Even if the cost was there, if Rare could beat her to a pulp, success might have been possible. If Rare were an NPC, that is.

Anyway, now the current king, queen, and the next queen are in Lyra’s hands. As for the scenario, the princess, in order to judge the current king’s atrocities – killing the Hiers royal family and seizing the artifact – led loyal nobles in a coup, usurping the throne. The current king and queen would be imprisoned somewhere, and their knight order would be utilized under the new queen as a form of atonement. Alternatively, they could claim that the whereabouts of the artifact stolen from Hiers are unknown, and they are currently torturing them to reveal its location. All that remains is for the new queen to officially apologize to the deceased Hiers royal family.

Since the sun is already setting, this will probably be done tomorrow. It was unexpected that the conclusion of the lengthy event would be a declaration of a change in the neighboring country’s regime.