Chapter 52 | Attracting Attention

The King’s audience chamber lay silent in the morning light. The king had a habit of waking up early and settling into his throne, even as soon as the sun rose. Arthorias had to admit that he was a principled man.

“How are things going in the south? Any new reports?” he asked Arthorias. Not only was he the King’s main bodyguard, but he was also the head of the recently established Royal Intelligence Agency.

“Things are as expected, My Lord. Though it almost strayed from its course yesterday night,” Arthorias answered. The King tapped his finger on the armrest of his throne and thought for a second.

“Explain,” his voice echoed.

“A pivotal knight company on the frontlines was about to collapse. But just at the last moment, there was an addition of high-quality enhancement and healing potions to their stocks, in significant quantities at that,” Arthorias recounted. “That allowed them to turn the tide and take down the bandit gang.”

“Interesting, where did these potions come from? Is it that one person you reported on before?”

“The healing potion in the batch matched the description, but we are not sure. The reason for the uncertainty is that… The potions were found being carried by a group of bandits. Probably stolen goods.”

“How big?”

“Eleven people in total. All third-rates. They seemed to have been heading for the Grimfang Plateau, carrying cartfuls of the stuff. Fortunately, some of our scouts intercepted and took ten of the eleven out. They also managed to secure the potions.”

“Hm? And the eleventh?”

“Many assassins were sent after him. Unfortunately, he managed to slip by. He seemed to sense our approaches before we arrived. We suspect some form of precognitive or danger-sense ability.”

“An abnormal then…” The King muttered under his breath. “Try and figure out if the source of the potions is the same as those from before. I want the creator of the potions serving me.”

“Your will be done,” Arthorias slammed his fist onto his chestplate. One moment he was there, the next, he wasn’t.

“Let’s see… Oh?” Theo jumped in surprise. Before he could even check his older notifications, another one popped up.

[Procure Strategic Ally completed!]

[The Southern Lands are home to hundreds of thousands of humans, to stop the unending Bandittide, you will need those qualified by your side.]

[Find the Ally 1/1]

[Secure the Alliance 1/1]

[Reward: 2% participation points. A new quest.]

[You have received a quest.]

[Emma is a reincarnator. She has a goal in mind that you are yet to be aware of, and she will see to it that it is completed. Or die doing so.]

[Figure out her goal and decide on your course of action.]

[Reward: The next stage of the quest. +2 levels.]

Huh… Two levels just for that? How interesting.

Pinning the quest on top of his notification bar, Theo continued onto the older ones.

[Eliminate Bandits (Repeatable) completed! x6]

[Supply Drop completed!]

[Assassinate Key Targets (Repeatable) completed!]

[Engage On All Fronts (Repeatable) completed!]

Supply drop? When did I even complete that? Theo thought. It was a different mission than Provide Supplies. The most clear difference being the fact that it wasn’t a repeatable. He had to analyze the ongoings of the war and try to provide pin-point his supply efforts. Pushing it aside, he scrolled even further and noticed something weird amongst his notifications.

[New main character detected!]

[Archetype: Unlucky Isekai: Being Enslaved is Only the Start!]

When did this even happen? He checked. Although he wasn’t sure, the time provided seemed to match the time he and Satou were fighting the bandit boss. Was it the bandit boss? No. If he were a main character, the notification would be floating above his head. I must have caught a glimpse of this person and not noticed it.

For now, Theo had nothing that he could do, so he pinned the notification and left it be. Finally, he checked his total accumulated participation points.

[Participation points: 6.3%]

He released a breath that he hadn’t realized he had been holding. He had managed to push himself above the minimum threshold of five. That meant that at least some of the failure conditions wouldn’t happen.

But that wasn’t enough. Even one of them happening would be devastating. Theo wanted all three of them to get past this hurdle alive and well.

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And of course, he wanted those sweet sweet rewards. This was a major quest, and getting high enough participation points could push him up to a massively powerful state. He didn’t feel adequate for the situations he was facing at all. Most of the time, he was massively overpowered by the enemies and had to utilize his intelligence to figure a way out.

And that was fine, sure, he couldn’t have an easy ride all the way through, but he also wished for the times when he could project a lot of power onto the battlefield, not unlike Satou.

Patience is a virtue… Theo reminded himself as he crossed his arms.

“Hey, are you not going to answer? Do we have to go to the frontlines?” Satou must have gotten restless as Theo had been staring into the air like a crazy person for a long while. The Assassin knew about the system, but it still looked weird, probably.

“We have to,” Theo said. For many reasons, that was the truth. Before they could continue the conversation, the door behind them opened. Emma came out, a slight blush on her face, bidding her farewells to Long Tian.

So she can make an expression like that too.

However, as soon as the door closed, a dissatisfied frown settled onto her face. She spat to the side and looked at the two.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

“Nope, not at all. Right, Satou?”

“Nothing.”

“Good.” She sighed. “Prince Long is… Resistant. I think it will take quite a bit of time for me to do my job.”

Theo barely held back a sigh of relief.

Good job, Long Tian! Just keep delaying. Once I become strong enough, I will make sure to save you from this tyrant’s hands.

It wouldn’t exactly be a problem if she did manage to conquer him. It wasn’t the end of the world if someone lost their main character status after all. At worst, he would contact his family and take her back to immortal land to live happily ever after.