The Golden Experience Point [Part 1]

Chapter 88: "Before the Final Battle"

Wayne never imagined that he could ever visit the royal castle. Of course, other games also had places like this, but in this game, the level of craftsmanship was on a completely different level. Just from seeing the outside, he already thought that it was majestic, but the inside was just as magnificent.

Wayne followed behind the knight, steadily going up and further into the castle. The hallways were vast and winding; he didn't think he would be able to find his way back out on his own. During this event, it might even just be faster for him to die and revive outside. If he had known this might happen, he would have gone to an inn in the castle town to log out momentarily first, but if he were to die now, he'd just be playing roulette again.

At some point, he started suffering the piercing stares of the people they passed. Sellswords probably weren't supposed to come into this area, he speculated. Wayne didn't know why he was being brought all this way, but whoever called for him must have thought that a single knight would be able to keep him under control. As far as he could tell from the way the knight carried himself, that idea wasn't wrong. The knights from the capital certainly were powerful.

"Pardon the interruption! I have brought one safeholder with me!"

They had finally arrived at a massive door. The knight knocked on it, received permission to enter, and opened it to step inside. Wayne came in after him.

"Hello there..."

"Ohh, I'm glad you're here, Lawson! You were only able to find one safeholder?"

"Yes sir. It appears that none of them have shown up at the guild since yesterday."

"I see. I have heard that many more safeholder sellswords are helping to defend the border than usual. Perhaps they had already started heading out that way yesterday. The capital is currently peaceful, after all."

This appeared to be a reception room. Wayne was shown to a soft-looking sofa. As he sat down, he was immediately offered some tea. It must be awkward for there to be a reception room this deep in the castle; he wondered when exactly they got to use it. The attendant-looking person who served the tea bowed politely then exited the room.

"First off, thank you for coming. My name is Douglas O'Connell, and I have been appointed the prime minister of the Kingdom of Hiers by His Majesty. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

He was the prime minister. A huge VIP. Not someone who would meet directly with a lowly sellsword. Why did he want Wayne—players to be brought to him?

"—Ah, umm, I'm Wayne. I don't have a family name. I'm a sellsword. It's nice to meet you."

"Indeed. Mister Wayne, I'm sure you think it strange that you've been brought all this way."

"......I do."

"Currently, monsters are assaulting cities all across the kingdom. We are struggling to come up with a response; I myself have been working all night."

The "I didn't get any sleep" excuse! Wayne often made the same complaint to his VR coworkers, but he never would have expected it in a game world as well. He felt a strange sense of affinity with the prime minister. The cities under assault definitely referred to the current event. Wayne nodded.

"However, we actually believe that this incident truly began about ten days ago."

What was he talking about? This was news to Wayne. The event should have only started yesterday. Maybe the admins started preparing the event ten days ago? That was probably about when they announced the event details, or maybe that happened a bit later.

"Ten days ago, the patriarch of the Holy Church of Hiers declared that he had received an oracle."

"You mean like a message from God...?"