4 Scenario: Inheritance

After registering with the guild, I looked over a bulletin board for a few minutes. The Requests were posted on paper up there. After a bit, I eventually found one that fitted my needs.

To summarize the contents:

Basically, I had to guard a merchant. They were heading to a city named Hoendail via carriage.

There were similar Requests posted up, but the reason I chose that specific one was the destination. Hoendail was located near a certain mountain, of where a formerly renown man known as the 'Ethereal Phantom' built his base.

It also functioned as an 'inheritance' ground of sorts. I planned to gain my first power up there.

In the original story, one day, a random villager landed upon the inheritance. In there, he was greeted by a ghost, who was created by 'Ethereal Phantom'. She taught him the techniques of the Ethereal Phantom.

After he reached a certain proficiency in it, she let revealed that she was had only six months left to live. The villager traveled around the Continent in an attempt to find a cure. However, in the middle of that journey, he was brainwashed and made into a servant of a Demon Lord.

To preface, there are 72 Demon Lord's, all of which are direct subordinates of the Demon King.

-Naturally, the servant of a Demon Lord would be evil. Or rather, being evil was a prerequisite.

If the villager had a good disposition, I would compensate him in some way. However, against an antagonist, I felt no need to do such a thing.

'Actually, this might be better for him, too.'

*

I arrived at the place stated in the Request I accepted. A carriage with a horse leading it appeared in my vision. Sitting on the coach area, there was a short middle-aged man with a beautiful beard on his chin. I assumed that he was a Dwarf - not in terms of physique, but literally so. A member of one of the legendary races which didn't exist on Earth.

Seeing such a sight, I let out a sigh of amazement. The Dwarf looked at me, and then scratched his beard,

"Missy, you are...?"

"Oh, sorry. My name is Sylris. I'm an adventurer."

I retrieved the bronze plate which identified me as an adventurer from my pocket, letting the Dwarf see it clearly, before putting it back in. The short man gave a 'Hoh!' sound and rubbed his chin.

"I see! You're the last one here. The rest of the adventurers who accepted the Request are in the carriage."

"I apologize if I was late."

"No, you're just on time. The others just arrived early."

"Alright."

I nodded and went to the back of the carriage. There were three people present, aside from me. Two males and one female.

I nodded at the three of them and retrieved a small notebook and a pencil from my pocket. The contents were pretty much empty. I planned on writing in them. As for the contents...

They would be the main points of what would happen in the original story. My memory wasn't perfect, and I was bound to forget some points in the story later on. Therefore, I planned to record everything to compensate.

Of course, I planned on using coded language. As for what that coded language was, it was...

Japanese.

I wasn't Japanese, but I did take Japanese language lessons. The reason was rather embarrassing, and I swore to take it with me to my grave.

Anyways.

Unlike what I expected, the trip went on without any hicks. I had read too many webnovels and assumed that bandits would interrupt the journey mid-way through. Then, I would use some powerful magic to wipe them out and get applauded by my traveling companions.

'I guess, in the end, all those novels are really just fiction.'

*

After finishing the Request, I received a total of 50 bronze coins. To put that in perspective, I only had enough for a night in a run-down inn and a few low-quality meals. Though, it was still a profit. After all, I actually managed to reach Hoendail for free, and I even received money.

With my newly found money, I first bought a knapsack. Then, I used up the rest on preservable foods and water.

I became completely penniless once again.

"Well, this is fine. Hopefully, the inheritance grounds will have a bed. Or something like that."

I hadn't explicitly written the details of the place, but even so, I assumed there were the basic necessities. After all, it used to be a base. It was bound to at least have bedding, and hopefully food too.

'If it doesn't, I'll just improvise from there.'

***

The sky was blue. To Kenin, the world seemed brilliant. The sun was blocked out by a few trees, yet a little bit of light still lit up his face, making him feel warm. As he lay down on the soft grass on the ground, the young man let out a sigh.

"It'd be great if the rest of the world was like this. Simple, warm, and beautiful..."

While thinking this, he stretched out his hand, extending it towards the sky before dropping it on the ground. Suddenly, he felt a wave of discontent shatter his mood.

"Ah... This really is just too boring. Am I just going to live like this until I die? It's not as if it's necessarily a bad life I'm living, it's just..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the sound of a twig snapping entered Kenin's ears. He quickly got up. He wanted to ask "is anyone there?", but decided not to in the end.

'Was that an animal? Or did someone just walk by? Ah, I better leave quickly just to be careful.'

Instead, he quickly ran away.

While he thought this, Kenin failed to notice a pair of eyes on his back...

*

After the young man disappeared from my vision, I let out a sigh of relief.

'Thank god. If I was one second late, he would've unlocked the inheritance. After that happened, I'd be screwed.'

I walked up to where the person was previously lying on and closed my eyes. From my mouth, I completed the sentence the villager was going to say.

"Wouldn't it be great if I could become powerful?"

The instant I finished uttering those words, I felt a strange feeling wash over me. The world instantly began to flash in front of my very eyes. I felt panic beginning to rise, but I quickly suppressed it.

'I just have to stick to the plan. Yes. From now on, I have to adopt the persona of a powerful figure who was weakened after a battle, like in those Cultivation novels!'

I cooled myself down and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I was in a completely different place than before.

*

I put my hands behind my back and observed my surroundings. I was in a place that looked something like a cave den. The walls and ceiling were made out of the rock. The ground had a decreipt, old red carpet covering it. The entire room was illuminated by many, many candles. Perhaps a dozen or so.

Other than me, there was also another person. It was a woman with a warm look on her face and long hair which drooped down to her waist. She was dressed in a black robe, with no notable designs on it.

She bowed towards me, seeming as if she wanted to explain what had happened to me. Before she could do so, however, I opened my mouth.

"So, apparition. Where exactly am I?"

The woman's gentle face crumbled, and she began to frown. She stepped backward, puttingher hands into her robe as if to retrieve a hidden weapon. She stared at me, and then cautiously said,

"Who are you? How do you know my identity?"

I chuckled and replied at a leisurely pace.

"Don't you think it's impolite to inquire about someone's past right after kidnapping them? It's rather unfair, you know. For a mere ghost with no influence over the material plane to do something like that... It's an unfunny joke, really."

The woman backed away once more, until she touched the wall. I stonily gazed at her without blinking. After a few seconds, she submitted.

"W-We are in the inheritance grounds of L-Lord Ethereal Phantom."

I relaxedly lifted my arm and placed it on my cheek, as if pondering something.

"An inheritance ground, eh? So, why did I get brought here? Because I have some sort of 'fate' with the person who built this place, or something like that?"

The woman looked at me, opening her mouth and then closing it. This scene repeated itself a few more times. After an uncountable amount of hesitations, the woman finally spoke.

"S-Sir... Please, become an honorary disciple of Lord Ethereal Phantom! In order to carry on his legacy, Lord Ethereal Phantom created an inheritance ground here for destined ones such as yoursel-

"Shut up."

I interrupted her words and scoffed at her.

"The person in front of you is a former Deva-Rank Mage. Even if there were a million of this 'Ethereal Phantom', I could easily slaughter all of them with a single thought. Why should I become the disciple of someone who's many times weaker than me?"

I nearly lost my composure half-way into the sentence. This level of role-playing made me so embarrassed I could die. It was a wonder how I could even keep my face straight, let alone spout all those words. Thankfully, I did take acting class in school.

If I was an outsider, I would've already laughed to death at how stupid my dialogue was.

The woman sighed, looking as if she was grasping for something to say. She seemed like she had temporarily become mentally disabled. After a bit, she seemed to have realized something.

"W-Was? S-So, you're no longer...?"

I nodded.

"Indeed... Due to an unfortunate event, I had my Origin Palace and Spiritual System shattered. My Energy Core also regressed in size. As a result, I was shoved back into the Intermediate-Rank..."

The woman's eyes widened more and more as she heard my words. I imagined she thought something along the lines of,

'To know about the Spiritual System, this person must have been an extremely knowledgeable and powerful figure before he was weakened. Such a person would have no reason to lie about their identity. But, I don't actually even know what this 'Origin Palace' is! Who exactly is he?'

I gave her time to think, and then continued,

"As a result, I descended down into this plane from the Realm of Myths. Hmm... Now that I think about it, I lack a place to stay."

The woman's eyes began to become muddled with shock, curiosity, and also... excitement. However, that curiosity came doubt. She looked like she wanted to say something but was doubting whether or not she should.

"Well, I've confirmed that you didn't have any malicious intents when you transported me here. Because of my circumstances, I will accept becoming an inheritor of Lord Ethereal Phantom."

The woman looked like she had many questions on her mind, but I couldn't care at all for them. Right now, all that mattered was...

"Now, do you have a bed here?"