< 37 : The Demon (2) >
Rex Meyer.
The eldest son of the Meyer Count House looked at the soldier who came to him.
It was not uncommon for soldiers to visit him for his schedule, but it was rare for another noble to bypass his family and seek him out directly.
Rex asked the soldier, who knelt before him, about the identity of the guest.
“Who is looking for me?”
“It is Viscount Eysalia, your grace.”
“Viscount Eysalia House? Where is that family from?”
“It is a family located in the Hegros Kingdom beyond the border. We have already verified their status.”
Rex Meyer was not well-versed in social circles.
He barely remembered the name of Eysalia Viscount House, let alone anything else.
A noble family from another country, and one that he had no connection with, came to see him.
It was a situation that Rex could not understand.
After hearing the soldier’s words, Rex pondered for a moment and then turned his head to look at his knight.
“Viscount Eysalia House. What do you think is the reason why they came to see me, Sir Palios?”
Sir Palios was one of Rex’s few allies in the Count House.
He had served him since he was young, and had overcome many hardships with him.
Rex trusted what Palios said.
Palios thought for a while after hearing Rex’s words, and then told him his guess.
“If the viscount came to see you, it must be to propose a marriage, your grace.”
“A marriage?”
“Perhaps he wants to see you in person and then decide whether to send a marriage proposal to your father, the count.”
Marriage.
Rex’s face slightly heated up when he heard Palios’ guess.
He did not know the exact purpose, but if a viscount from a neighboring country came to see him, there was nothing else but that.
Rex was already past his prime for marriage.
If Eysalia Viscount House had a daughter who was close to his age, it was not strange for them to come and see him personally.
Rather, this could be an opportunity for Rex.
He did not know how powerful Eysalia Viscount House was, but if they had a strong influence in their kingdom, he might be able to adjust the tilted succession balance.
“Hmm. I haven’t thought about that yet. For now, I’ll invite the viscount to the castle myself.”
“Your grace.”
Just as Rex was about to make a decision on the invitation from Eysalia Viscount, who wanted to meet him.
The soldier who had been listening to the conversation lowered his head.
It meant that he had something else to say.
Seeing that the soldier’s story was not over yet, Rex asked him about the next issue.
“Is there any problem?”
“The viscount wishes to meet you as quietly as possible.”
“What do you mean by that?”
He wanted to meet Rex as quietly as possible.
It was understandable if he was shy and made such a request.
However, it was hard to find a place in this city where the Count House’s influence did not reach.
The best he could do was to clear out some people around the reception room.
“The viscount has rented a mansion.”
“He wants me to go to his mansion?”
“I heard that you only brought one servant and one knight with you. I don’t think you have to worry too much.”
Rex listened to the soldier’s report and imagined the situation in his head.
One servant. And one knight.
It was not a composition that posed a great threat to Rex’s safety.
Besides, the skill of Sir Palios, who escorted Rex, was outstanding even in the Count House.
With Palios by his side, he did not have to worry about his safety.
After judging the other party, Rex looked at Palios and opened his mouth.
“Sir Palios. Let’s go to the mansion with just the two of us.”
“Are you sure that’s enough, your grace?”
“Wouldn’t it be noisy if we increased the number of people?”
“That’s true. I understand.”
The Meyer Count House had many eyes and ears spread by his half-brothers.
Moreover, Viscount Eysalia, who requested a meeting with Rex, also wanted a quiet meeting.
In that case, he thought it would be enough to have only himself and his escorting knight.
He did not want any unnecessary rumors to leak out if he increased the number of people.
He decided to take only reliable people with him.
“I trust that Sir Palios, a great knight, will protect me well.”
“It is an honor, your grace.”
“I wonder when you will call me your lord.”
Palios had always been by Rex’s side.
But what Palios was loyal to was none other than Count Meyer.
Palios laughed heartily at Rex’s words.
“Haha! I believe that you will undoubtedly become the heir, your grace.”
“…”
“When that day comes, I will gladly offer my sword to you.”
If he ever became the count.
Palios promised Rex a distant future.
Becoming the heir was still a faint possibility.
But even for the sake of saving his face in front of Palios, he had to become the count.
And this meeting was going to be a stepping stone for that.
“In order to do that, I have to… handle this matter well first.”
Rex’s voice, immersed in his thoughts, echoed in the room.
Palios, who was watching him, smiled contentedly.
***
<Creature Maker>
It had been an hour since I acquired magic.
During that time, I looked at my smartphone and had many doubts.
Was it right to use this skill now?
How should I create creatures with this skill?
Since I could only use this skill five times, I had to invest a lot of time in deciding where to use it.
And after much deliberation, I came to one conclusion.
“Let’s just try it once.”
You can get a rough idea of anything once you use it.
The <Creature Maker> skill was no exception.
If I used this skill to create a creature in reality, I would be able to understand how to use the skill effectively.
Now that I had made up my mind, it was time to try out the skill.
I moved my finger to the <Creature Maker> skill located at the bottom of the screen.
Tap.
As I touched the screen, a guide message for the <Creature Maker> skill popped up.
<Creature Maker> showed a different message from the usual skills.
-You have used <Creature Maker>.
-Please specify the amount of mana you want to consume.
The first thing that appeared when I used the skill was a window to set the amount of mana to consume.
Other skills always consume a fixed amount of mana.
But in the case of <Creature Maker>, it seemed that I could create creatures by consuming as much mana as I wanted.
It was a strange and amazing system.
“The more mana, the stronger it will be, right?”
The more powerful the skill, the more mana it consumes.
Since it was the first creature I created, it wouldn’t hurt to put in a lot of mana.
I set the amount of mana to consume to about half of what I had.
Squeeze.
As I set the amount of mana and pressed the confirm button, another window with different content popped up.
Please specify the aggressiveness of your creature.
Just like when I set the amount of mana, there was a slider bar that I could move on the window.
But instead of mana, it was an item that set the aggressiveness level of the creature from 1 to 10.
The aggressiveness of the creature.
It seemed that the more aggressive it was, the more powerful it would be.
I moved the slider bar to set the aggressiveness of the creature to the maximum.
“I want it to be strong. Like a boss monster that looks like an evil dragon.”
I always had a fantasy about dragon pets whenever I played any game.
A black dragon flying in the sky.
Just seeing that made me feel more satisfied with the game.
That’s why I imagined an evil dragon in my head and adjusted the details of <Creature Maker> accordingly.
The last setting left after finishing the appearance of the creature was only one thing.
Please specify the size of your creature.
The size of the creature.
It was an item that determined how big my pet would be.
A dragon had to be big no matter what.
It had to be able to send people flying with just a flick of its tail, and break trees with just its steps.
It was an item that did not require much thought.
“The size has to be maximum.”
I finished setting all the details and pressed the confirm button on the window.
As I finished setting all the items, a light spread on the screen and a target marker popped up.
It was a message that told me to specify the range where I would place the creature.
I did not want to cause any damage to the academy by placing it anywhere, so I put the creature on a mountain range where no one was.
As soon as I touched the screen after setting the target area to the mountain range.
A bright light burst out around the target area, and a guide message popped up at the bottom of the screen.
-You have created [Abyssal Demon: Cuebaerg].
-Due to the penalty of <Creature Maker>, you cannot recover the mana you consumed for 24 hours.
-[Abyssal Demon: Cuebaerg] reveres you.
-<Karma’s Judgment> converts [Abyssal Demon: Cuebaerg]’s actions into your causality rate.
The name of the demon that appeared after I finished all the settings was Cuebaerg.
The appearance of the creature with the name Abyssal Demon was truly ferocious.
No, it was more than ferocious.
It was monstrous.
Maybe it was because of the description of Abyssal Demon in front of it.
It looked like an unidentified mass that crawled out of the abyss.
“What is this? Where is my dragon?”
A tentacle protruded from the huge mass filled with darkness and moved toward the sky.
It looked like it was greeting me.
Its appearance was completely different from the dragon I had imagined.
Maybe I set my values wrong.
That thought crossed my mind.
I tried to ignore Cuebaerg and moved my finger quickly to the other side of the map.
“That’s totally opposite of what I wanted.”
The cursed creature of the abyss was not what I wanted.
Rather, it was closer to the opposite of what I wanted.
Sigh.
I let out a sigh and touched the <Creature Maker> skill button again.
As I used <Creature Maker> skill, a detailed setting window appeared as before.
-You have used <Creature Maker>.
-Please specify the amount of mana you want to consume.
I had already used almost half of my mana to make Cuebaerg.
I decided to use 80% of my remaining mana to make a new creature.
But this time, I changed all the values to the opposite of what I had before.
I thought that if I adjusted the settings to the opposite side, I would get the dragon I wanted.
Because Cuebaerg, which was completely opposite to my expectations, came out from my previous settings.
“Please, let it be a dragon this time.”
Aggressiveness setting 1.
Appearance setting 10.
And finally, size setting 1.
It was the exact opposite of what I had before.
I compromised a bit on the size and aggressiveness.
I didn’t care if it was a bit small, as long as it was a dragon.
I finished setting everything and set the target area of <Creature Maker> to a rugged mountain range.
As I touched the target area, a light burst out and guide messages kept popping up.
-You have created [Kerubim: Estasia].
-Due to the penalty of <Creature Maker>, you cannot recover the mana you consumed for 24 hours.
-[Kerubim: Estasia] reveres you.
-<Karma’s Judgment> converts [Kerubim: Estasia]’s actions into your causality rate.
A coarse curse word naturally came out of my mouth when I faced the result.
This time, it looked too pious.
