Chapter 5

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Inside the limousine, Lino fidgeted nervously with his fingers, which rested stiffly on his knees. By this time, he should have been vigorously hiking toward the bus stop. Instead, he was sitting utterly alone in an absurdly luxurious limousine, being ferried directly to the capital.

Even as he had walked out of the fortress gates clutching his suitcase, Lino hadn’t been able to shake the thought: Should I just gauge the situation and bolt? Surrounded by the jealous farewells of his fellow knights, Lino had planned to agonize over the decision while walking to the train station. Would it really be better to run away now, or just act like a corpse in the capital and come back?

However, Lino never got the chance to board a bus or a train.

What kind of absolute lunatic sends a limousine deep into a mountain range where even radio signals can’t reach…?

Sliding his hand off his knee, Lino tentatively pressed it against the seat beneath him. He still couldn’t believe the ride quality; it was entirely devoid of even the slightest vibration, making it feel as though he were lying on a premium mattress. No matter how obscenely expensive a car was, it was bound to rattle violently when driving over unpaved dirt roads.

He peeled back the thick, dark curtains covering the window to inspect the outside, wondering if they had perhaps hit a paved highway. However, the view was completely obscured by a thick, suffocating cloud of dust kicked up by the limousine’s tires, confirming they were still rocketing over a jagged dirt road.

Even with cutting-edge technology, how can there be absolutely zero turbulence? Tearing his gaze away from the yellow dust storm outside, Lino began a slow, meticulous exploration of the limousine’s interior. A bizarre, unnatural energy—which he hadn’t noticed initially due to his sheer panic and tension—began to register.

Where is this energy coming from?

The first thing Lino inspected was the mini-fridge built into the cabin. He recalled the chauffeur telling him before departure that he was free to use any of the amenities inside.

Well… he said I could use it freely. Glancing nervously toward the partition separating him from the driver, Lino slowly opened the fridge door.

Instantly, the trapped frigid air spilled out as if it had been waiting to escape. The cold felt significantly sharper and more biting than any standard refrigerator he had ever encountered. Furthermore, there was absolutely zero electronic humming.

…Is it not powered by electricity?

Bending down and twisting his neck, he peered deep inside the fridge. It was stocked with various brands of bottled water and expensive beverages. Pushing them to the side, he noticed small, blue stones the size of a pinky fingernail embedded into the ceiling, the back wall, and both side walls.

Mana stones?

Rubbing his eyes and double-checking to ensure he wasn’t hallucinating, Lino quickly shut the fridge door. Next, he wrenched open the wine cellar. Inside, he discovered mana stones of an even paler hue. Glancing up at the ceiling, he realized mana stones were entirely replacing the air conditioning vents.

Are you fucking kidding me…?

At this point, it was undeniable that the limousine’s ability to glide over a dirt road without a single vibration was the result of literal magic. In truth, this was the first time Lino had ever seen a mana stone in person. However, having studied countless illustrations in books, there was absolutely zero chance he was mistaken.

This isn’t just someone with money to burn… Just who the hell is this distinguished guest?

Mana stones didn’t cost a few pennies. A single mana stone the size of a ping-pong ball could easily purchase five massive estates in the Empire’s capital. Furthermore, they were so obscenely rare that they were almost exclusively hoarded by the Imperial Palace; even high-ranking nobles, let alone commoners, rarely ever caught a glimpse of one.

Yet, this person had dispatched a limousine to pick up a single, lowly escort knight—which was already psychotic overkill—and studded the vehicle with multiple mana stones. This bypassed the realm of extreme wastefulness and entered the territory of using solid gold bricks to build a campfire.

Is it truly the Emperor himself? No, even the Emperor wouldn’t squander mana stones in a place like this.

Lino felt incredibly uncomfortable knowing he was riding in a vehicle embedded with artifacts that couldn’t be bought with all the money in the world. If he accidentally bumped one and caused a malfunction, the consequences would be catastrophic. Granted, merely touching them wouldn’t actually break them, but it never hurt to be exceptionally, paralyzingly careful around something this unfathomably expensive.

Frantically searching for a spot as far away from the fridge, wine cellar, and air conditioning vents as mathematically possible, Lino ended up perched dead center on the backseat. After awkwardly adjusting his deeply uncomfortable posture several times, he finally leaned back. Because the leather seat was vastly softer and more luxurious than his pathetic mattress back at the order, his eyes naturally drifted shut.

The distinguished guest who personally selected you is a bea—ahem, a person who will hunt you down whether you hide at the edge of the Terne Continent or in the dead center of the boundless ocean.

The Commander’s terrifying warning abruptly resurfaced. When told the distinguished guest would hunt him down no matter where he fled, Lino had simply assumed they were an obscenely rich lunatic. But after witnessing the mana stones embedded in the limousine, he realized it wasn’t a metaphor; they were someone who was genuinely capable of executing such a hunt without breaking a sweat.

If this distinguished guest possessed artifacts that couldn’t be bought for millions of gold coins, Lino’s curiosity regarding their true identity only deepened.

If asked to name the wealthiest individuals in the world, the answers were universally consistent: the Emperor of the Derma Empire, the Emperor of the Cartia Empire, and His Holiness of the Great Aquila Temple.

The Derma Empire was an incredibly wealthy nation built on booming tourism and the massive exportation of exotic fruits and grains. The Cartia Empire amassed colossal fortunes through natural gas and rare mineral monopolies. It was only natural that the Emperors reigning over these superpowers possessed unfathomable wealth. Meanwhile, His Holiness, acting as the direct proxy of the Sun God, held absolute ownership over every tribute offered to the thousands of Aquila temples scattered across the globe. He was easily as wealthy as the Emperors, if not wealthier.

However, in Lino’s personal opinion, the true wealthiest person wasn’t among those three; it was the Grand Duke of the Isberg Principality. Most people would mock him for including someone whose very existence was heavily debated, but Lino was entirely serious.

Mana stones were astronomically expensive because the demand was practically infinite while the supply was effectively zero. The sole location on earth where they could be mined was the Isberg Principality. Though it remained an entirely unknown territory where even the Grand Duke’s name was a mystery, the fact that Isberg held an absolute monopoly on mana stones was universally known. Based on the mana stone monopoly alone, wouldn’t the Grand Duke’s financial power eclipse all others?

Isberg… I want to go so badly.

Behind closed eyelids, Lino summoned the imaginary illustration of Isberg. The dream of visiting that forbidden land he had harbored since childhood had matured into a profound wish as a teenager, and now, as an adult, it was his ultimate goal.

Right. Whether they’re a perverted distinguished guest or whatever, I’ll just act like a corpse, quietly amass a massive fortune from them, and then bolt straight to the Cartia Empire.

He had heard rumors that while the official compensation for escorting a distinguished guest was pitifully low, the guests themselves frequently bestowed generous gifts or massive tips. It naturally depended on the distinguished guest, but supposedly, even the most miserly tip was enough to live comfortably without working for the rest of one’s life.

He also remembered Rodic’s excited rambling about how Lino was going to become incredibly rich. At the time, completely consumed by the terrifying prospect of serving a perverted distinguished guest obsessed with pretty faces, Lino had let the words go in one ear and out the other. But thinking about it now, it was highly tantalizing information.

I’ll secure a massive payout, flee to Cartia… and then gather more intelligence on Isberg from there.

Since the Cartia Empire shared a direct border with Isberg, there would undoubtedly be vastly more information available there than in Zetina. As he plotted his journey to Isberg, Lino’s eyes sparkled brilliantly with anticipation. Furthermore, a distinguished guest who casually squandered mana stones in a limousine might actually have direct ties to Isberg.

Just moments ago, he had firmly resolved to avoid the perverted distinguished guest’s gaze at all costs. Yet, the instant he fabricated a potential connection to Isberg, Lino mentally upgraded the “perverted distinguished guest” back to simply “the distinguished guest.”

Ring, ring—

The telephone installed inside the limousine suddenly chimed. Lino debated for a second whether he should answer it, but realizing the only possible caller was the driver behind the partition, he picked up the receiver.

“Yes, this is Lino Cliff.”

— I apologize, but while our estimated time of arrival was approximately two hours from now, poor road conditions will likely delay us by another hour.

“Yes, I understand.”

Informed that the journey would take an additional three hours, Lino replied with total nonchalance. To someone who had endured eight solid years of captivity, a mere three hours was absolutely nothing. However, the driver repeatedly and profusely apologized for the delay. Deeply uncomfortable with the excessive groveling, Lino practically matched the driver’s apology count with assurances that it was perfectly fine before quickly hanging up.

My file clearly states I’m a commoner with absolutely zero family or relatives, so why is he being so overwhelmingly deferential? It’s too much pressure.

If he had been an aristocratic knight, the treatment might make sense. But he was a completely isolated commoner without a single relative, let alone a sponsor. He possessed zero notable career experience and absolutely no specialized skills; he was a commoner more ordinary than the rocks kicked around on the street.

While his proficiency in ancient languages was genuinely exceptional, he could never write that on a resume. The study of ancient languages was strictly limited to a minuscule fraction of high-ranking nobles and high priests. Since most high priests also hailed from aristocratic bloodlines, claiming fluency in ancient languages was essentially screaming, I am a noble!

If I carelessly flaunted my ancient language skills and the news somehow reached his ears, it would be an absolute disaster…

Consequently, Lino had deliberately downgraded his education level on his resume, claiming he had only completed secondary education via qualification exams.

Final education: Secondary.

Sponsor: None. Isolated individual.

Residence: None.

He had calculated that presenting such a pathetic resume would lead anyone reviewing it to naturally conclude: Ah, an orphan who wandered around homeless before finally getting his act together late in life to self-study for his secondary diploma. And everyone had reacted exactly as Lino had predicted.

That meticulously crafted resume had steered him directly to the Order of St. Margia, buried deep within the mountains. Any order located in the capital, urban centers, suburbs, or anywhere with decent transportation had summarily rejected him at the initial document screening phase, denying him even an interview. Of course, even if they had accepted him, he would have refused to go. Ultimately, the Order of St. Margia was the only place in the entire Zetina Kingdom willing to accept a supposedly reformed delinquent commoner.

To live a bit more comfortably in the Cartia Empire, I should probably upgrade my education level, shouldn’t I?

He was profoundly relieved he had diligently completed his education up to the university level before escaping the Haklan estate. At least when he finally reached Cartia, he wouldn’t have to fabricate his academic credentials.

Well… things will work out somehow.

He utterly refused to complicate his mind further by stressing over problems that hadn’t even arrived yet. Checking his battered wristwatch, he saw he still had over two hours left in the journey. Draining the tension from his body, Lino leaned back comfortably and closed his eyes. Perhaps because he had tossed and turned all night, his eyes felt dry and heavy.

I should get some shut-eye before we arrive.

Closing his eyes in the plush seat felt exactly like lying in a luxurious bed. Once he arrived in the capital, there would undoubtedly be a literal mountain of tasks to handle, along with a massive environment to adapt to. His physical stamina was perfectly fine thanks to the brutal training at the order, but the mental toll would likely be devastating. Therefore, even a short nap was a crucial strategic move.