I Am Going

If having a family meant that you were going to get violently interrupted every few seconds during dinner by a hearty slap on your back, then it was honestly a lot better than I thought.

At the very least, it was better than what I had back on Earth. That wasn't a very high bar, but all things considered, it was the only thing that I had to compare this with.

"Have another one, Ryuuko!" King Borea happily roared as he pretty much jammed what was a massive version of a chicken leg into my mouth.

Technology in this world wasn't as advanced as what I had in my previous life, meaning that a lot of condiments and cooking techniques hadn't been discovered yet. But the rustic flavors of the food somehow made it taste even better.

I tore a meaty chunk off the leg, savoring its taste. It came from a species of bird that the Zaltsel clan called "Garenas" and were prized for not only their succulent meat, but also their soft down-like feathers.

Their appearance could pretty much be likened to an ostrich-sized albatross with a round beak. They were endemic to the eastern half of Celatria and was a big part of why some of the western nations sent people to cross the Fissure from time to time.

It was interesting how a domesticated bird was one of the major contributors to what the eastern tribes called the "Reckoning", a regular occurrence during the spring and summer seasons where skirmishes between the eastern and western nations occurred around the Fissure for a multitude of reasons.

"So... What'd you talk about with Cyrus and the princess?" The king looked like he was pretty happy to have someone speak to him so casually, and I wasn't exactly the best at using formal language so I figured I'd just stick to it.

At first, everyone else thought it was pretty jarring since even Lucrezia and Aurelia deferred to King Borea with at least some measure of formality, but my persistently casual attitude had ended up helping dissolve that final barrier between the sisters and their father.

Honestly, I was more than a little surprised that I was treated so favorably to the point that I'd started influencing their own relationships. Ever since I'd defeated King Borea two days ago, the atmosphere of the castle had begun changing rapidly.

According to Antenora, the ambiance at the dinner table was a lot more somber and silent compared to what was going on right now.

Perhaps the biggest driving factor behind all of this was the fact that I'd actually defeated King Borea. Strictly speaking, this entire city was essentially one big overland dungeon.

As the victor of the duel, I was entitled to its dungeon core and therefore ruling authority over the Zaltsel clan. Cities in the eastern part of the continent were actually materialized through a dungeon core instead of constructed, meaning that whoever held the core would literally control the city.

What's more is that the dungeon cores in the eastern nations were unique. Most dungeon cores that I'd read about in fiction passively absorbed mana and used it to grow. However, the dungeon cores here absorbed your Reputation in order to grow.

It was becoming more and more apparent as to what Reputation really was and why the Goddess Krynera had supposedly disguised the word as "Corruption" to the western nations.

In order to increase one's Reputation, it was important to perform deeds of great strength. That was why my Corruption had increased when I killed people without the blessing from being a registered Adventurer.

As it turns out, acts like conquering territories, establishing dungeons, killing other combatants, or even just acquiring large numbers of people to serve under you would cause your Reputation to rise. For the western nations, this would be seen as an abundance of "Corruption."

Not only that, but it was pretty obvious as to why leveling was regulated by the state in the western nations whereas it was freely accessible in the eastern nations so long as you visited a temple of Pyladae.

Anyone capable of leveling would be able to perform Reputation-increasing acts much easier, which would raise "Corruption" in their eyes. Because of this, people who wished to raise their level had to be granted special privileges which freed them from such limits.

However, this also opened up the risk of someone leveling rapidly and then being immune to raising their Corruption, allowing them to act as violently or rashly as they pleased without worrying about being stopped by Krynera's protections.

As a result, leveling became heavily managed by the state whereas in the eastern nations, such strength was the only way to survive in the barren lands. Without a dungeon core, arable land would not naturally form and thus, it would be impossible to survive in such a hostile environment without hunting.

Because of this, most tribes required as many able-bodied warriors as possible to defeat the monsters that stalked the lands. Although there were often violent disputes in a land where the strong ruled, tribes which operated in such fashion were often torn apart from the inside before they could really get settled.

For that reason, a strong and evenly-tempered ruler like King Borea was capable of raising the Zaltsel clan into the massive nation that it was now even though they began as a small tribe.

In the eastern nations, it was optimal to have a good balance of strength and wit whereas one could survive purely through guile in the western nations, especially due to how levels could be used as currency.

Although I only caught a glimpse of her when she arrived yesterday with Cyrus and the rest of her diplomatic entourage, I was able to use [Complete Analysis] on Princess Sella. Her stats were in the mid-high range, which wasn't surprising since her musculature was actually rather well-built for a princess, but what was insane were her class levels and her skills.

Supposedly, the only place where she'd seen combat was in the royal training halls, but the number of skills that she possessed exceeded both mine and King Borea's. Not only that, but her skill levels were insanely high with multiple skills beyond level 5. She even had three separate classes that were all leveled to thirty or above.

In short, Princess Sella was a fucking insane powerhouse if you only looked at her class levels and skills.

I later asked Antenora about this and was able to confirm that this was indeed the norm for royalty. Due to the state's control over leveling and an apparent annual "level tax" that was levied against all citizens of the realm who had gained at least two levels over the course of the year, the nobility was insanely strong.

The only saving grace was that I was the only one who could raise my stats directly since no one else had [Rulebook], meaning that I shouldn't be running into anyone as powerful as Archbishop Taunes constantly.

Come to think of it, it'd been around a good minute since I'd asked my question. When I did, the table had gradually fallen silent as King Borea frowned, his brow furrowed in deep rumination.

I hadn't really noticed since I'd gotten bored waiting for an answer and ended up drifting away into my random trains of thought, but as distracted as I was, even I could notice that the air in the room had gone brittle.

"Uh... Everything alright?"

"Ryuuko." King Borea finally said. "You... might have to leave."