Episode 61: The Truth (3)

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Carolus' POV

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The bright light was finally gone and I can feel my face pressing on some hard surface.

I quickly raise my head so I can breathe then stand on my feet.

The first thing on my mind right now is to look at my hands.

My fingers are gone.

Well, so much for that. I guess I'm back to this Minecraft world in my Avatar's body.

Before I made my decision though, I thoroughly asked the Goddess questions about myself and other things to avoid getting manipulated once again. I also have to make sure that I made the right choice.

I asked the Goddess about my body and my status.

Apparently, the Goddess knows a little about the future and decided to change my age to 528 even though I'm still 24 for convenient purposes. This is the age of the last person she asked to save this world so basically, I'm impersonating a dead person right now.

Damn. I don't really care about my age in this world since I'm basically immortal because of my gift but being a 528-year-old man is still a bummer.

I also asked her about the last guy who traveled here.

The last person is apparently not from Earth but from another world. I already forgot the name of his world but it is a lot more advanced and futuristic than Earth.

In that world, there is a game called 'VR Minecraft' where you can play the game in Virtual Reality. A game where you actually walk around and interact with your virtual body. This is the primary reason why the Goddess is confident that the guy will succeed since he is adept in living in this world but I guess he played too much of it and tried to live this world like a game.

I'm really jealous about the world the last guy lived in with the technology they have but I still prefer my own world since it is my home.

I also asked the Goddess what would happen to me once I miraculously defeated the Ender Dragon and slay all the monsters but she didn't answer my question. She just said that 'Only time will tell'.

I look around and notice that I'm on top of the keep of my castle. I guess this is my spawn point but it doesn't matter since I'm all out of lives.

'I will owe you greatly if you decide to help save my people.'

The Goddess' words echo in my head.

Damn right she will owe a lot since she manipulated me but I guess I'm glad she did that since I'm still young and wanted to live a little bit more though I wish it is in my world and not this one.

I also don't have anything better to do in my life so I guess I just have to save this world.

I start checking my body for any changes and found nothing abnormal except for the huge scar on my left shoulder and an arrow scar in my right leg.

I was hoping that all the markings in my body will disappear once I got revived. Well, I don't really mind since being beautiful in this world is not really an achievement for me.

I open my status and it is now displaying more information than before but the 'Rebirth' gift is now gone. I guess this is really my last life in this world.

I'm wearing my original clothes and start wondering about my inventory.

I quickly close my status after checking it and open my inventory.

My eyes are wide open while staring at my inventory window.

IT IS BLOODY EMPTY.

I guess that is pretty normal in the game after respawning but for the love of God, the Goddess can't give me back my items?

Well, I can't really grumble about losing my items for too long so I just close my inventory and start walking towards the stairs and head to the basement to check something.

I know that the possibility of him being alive is relatively low but I have to see it for myself.

I manage to reach the first floor but before I head towards the basement, I notice a big hole in the middle of the first floor.

What happened here?

I walk towards the hole and peak at the bottom.

I see a close portal below.

Huh? That is probably Sisilla's portal but how did she close it? Did she use a TNT to blew up the portal?

I could just ask Sisilla these questions but I don't have an Ender Chest right now.

Great. I just remember that nobody in this world knows that I just died. Rose probably suspected it since she saw what happened but she knows about my 'Rebirth' gift so I guess it fine for me to leave her hanging for a while.

I jump to the basement using the hole on the floor and quickly walk towards one of the rooms.

I manage to reach it and notice that the door is missing. I could also see the destruction from outside the room so I guess he is really dead.

Dammit. I should have released Merek instead of locking him up. He would still be alive. Well, there is no use to worry about a dead man.

I quickly head outside the keep and towards the barn.

I have zero weapons right now so I don't have anything on me that I could use to protect myself.

I notice that the wall on the side of my castle keep is also covered up like it is been made by an amateur. It is probably Sisilla who destroyed it and duct tape it.

There is also a hole in my barn on both sides.

My god. How brutal was the battle to take over my castle for this amount of destruction?

I decide to just ignore everything that happened in my castle and walk inside the barn.

There are 2 item frames here and item frames in this world and in the game can hold any item inside them so they are like chest except they can only hold one item per item frame.

I stand in front of the item frames on the wall of the barn and stare at it.

The iron knife and shear are still in their item frame so I guess I'm lucky about that.

The knife is used for butchering the animals while the shear is used for the sheep.

I touch one of the item frames and transfer its content to my inventory.

I open my inventory and equip the iron knife. I then start swinging it around to feel the weapon. It is not as great as my sword but it is better than nothing. I still have chests full of iron weapons and armors stored hidden beneath this castle so I could just access it but I don't have a pickaxe to mine the stone ground.

I stare at the wall of the barn and notice that it is made of oak planks.

I guess I'm back to square one and start punching wood.

Before I can even throw my first punch to gather wood, I suddenly remember that I don't have a single diamond in my possession.

I close my eyes and lean my head on the wall of the barn.

Great. Iron equipment is sort of alright in this world if your enemies are just small zombies and regular spiders but they are absolutely useless against the Legendary Monsters.

I guess I'm back to mining but I already mined all the resources around my territory in this forest and I don't really want to mine beneath the Skeletons and Giant Spiders territory since I don't want the zombie tunnel's incident to happen again.

Ah! I no longer care! My head is aching from all of this thinking.

I just start punching the wood while thinking for a plan to mine some resources so I can craft and enchant diamond equipment.

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Raimer Van Ranst's POV

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"The Kornmann's, Franssen's and the Cardenas' refuse to bend the knee, my king. All of them send a message that basically says there are not fond following a usurper." says the trusted Lord and General of my personal army.

I lean my back in my chair and stare at everyone in the meeting room.

The northern, western and southern territories refuse to acknowledge me as their king.

"It could be worse, your high... grace." the general almost says 'highness' but manages to quickly correct it. "The eastern territory is still loyal to you. Wait. Your wife's family is loyal to you, right?"

My wife, Felicia is resting in her room right now. She tried to attend the meeting since she is the queen of this kingdom but I managed to stop her.

"Of course. My wife and her family are the ones that I trust most in this world filled with lies." I say to him.

"What about me, your grace?" the general quickly asks.

"And I also trust everyone in this room."

The people's eyes in this room quickly filled with relief since they probably thought that I don't trust them.

"How many troops can we field into battle?" I ask after thinking for a while.

"What for, your grace?" one of the officers quickly ask.

"Just answer the question."

"Well, we did massacre the garrison in the capital city since they refused to surrender so we have to provide soldiers of our own to protect this place and also lots of soldiers died in the rebellion," the general says and stop to think for a moment. "Around 300 or so, your grace."

"That's too little."

"Wait. Your planning to use force to make them bend the knee?"

I didn't answer the general's question and just remained silent.

"My lords, can I have a moment alone with Lord Periumus," I say after a while and everyone quickly stand in their chairs and head outside except for the general.

After the last person closes the door of the room, the general quickly stands in his chair to sit beside me since he is sitting far across the table.

"What are you doing, Raimer?" the general asks and he drops his honorifics like he is talking to a kid. " You incited a rebellion to stop the war then you want to gather up the army to fight our own people?"

I didn't answer his question and just stare at him.

I don't really know what I'm doing. I just want the nonsense wars to stop and have the kingdom united but I'm failing.

Almost everyone here wants war since it is the only thing that provides them with resources while everyone else wants a piece of the kingdom to rule over of their own.

I can't stop this now. I already started this so I have to end it.

"Do you think I'm fit to be a king, Periumus?" I ask.

"Of course. There is no better person in this world to rule Xaerin than you."

"Then why you are talking to me like a kid?"

"Hah!" he suddenly exclaims making flinch for a moment. "I'm talking to you casually because I've known you since you were a baby and practically raised you myself. Do you remember the time when we were on the southern border to train you how to swim and sail?"

"Of course. I was 13 back then. Why would you suddenly asked that question?"

"Chaephitopian Pirates raided a fishing village and you personally rushed with only me and 10 guards to help them." he suddenly stops talking like he is reminiscing a memory.

That was my first battle so I remember it very clearly. One pirate ship with a crew of 20 people attacked an innocent village and we managed to kill them all.

"You flatten 10 men that day with your giant hammer and saved an entire village." the general continues then stares at me. "That was the day I witnessed the death of the boy that I raised and the born of a great man who will one day rule this kingdom."

I didn't know that this old man thinks of me this way.

A soldier suddenly burst through the door unannounced and the general and I quickly turn our heads to face him.

"My apologies for interrupting, your grace but I have grave news." the soldier says while panting.

I stand on my chair and grab a bottle of water in my inventory then give it to the soldier.

The soldier quickly drinks the entire bottle in one gulp.

"Report," I say to the soldier.

"Monsters, your grace. Thousands of them suddenly appeared on the eastern border."