The legendary Moonlight Sculptor

V50C5P2 Hidden weapons

Guided by Emperor Geihar, Weed and his companions headed towards the capital city of the Arpen Empire.

"…"

"Woooow…"

"This, this is amazing."

Majestic stone structures built in the style of the Classical Era welcomed them. The great city stretched out from one end of their field of view to the other. It was the place where an endless variety of sculptural creatures in the forms of beasts and Avians lived. It was the capital of the Arpen Empire, which had a beautiful river flowing through it and several hundred species of trees growing lushly all over the land.

< You have arrived at the capital city of the Arpen Empire in the Classical Era, the same capital city of the old Arpen Empire mentioned in historical records.

You are now visiting Verd Adren, a place where humans and countless other life forms lived in harmony, the cultural hub as well as the center of civilization of the entire Versailles Continent.

You have made a legendary adventuring achievement.

You have obtained the title: 'Observer of History'

All stats have increased by 5 points.

Your fame has increased by 12,450 points

People will find it hard to accept such an incredible discovery even if you report it.>

Although it was a long time ago, Weed had seen this city before in the images contained in the Royal seal of the Arpen Empire. As this was his first time to visit the place in person, he was able to receive the rewards for his achievement in adventure.

"This is so impressive."

"I've never expected such an adventure…"

"Everything here feels marvelous."

Weed's companions walked around the streets, deeply in awe. It was hard to believe but everywhere they looked, the whole and splendid sight of the Arpen Empire was in front of them just as it was from the time long past. The town square, market streets, and all the buildings including the food storehouse were perfectly reproduced — the kind of time travel only possible in Royal Road.

Among the people roaming about the city, they could see members of some rare beast races that were known to have existed a long time ago. As Emperor Geihar's aesthetic taste covered all kinds of species, there was also a relatively diverse range of lifeforms that belonged to reptiles and insects. What was particularly interesting was the fact that even their exotic appearances seemed to be in harmony with the scenery of the city, and beautiful.

'As a sculptor, Weed-nim will be able to create new races, too, given time. The Versailles Continent as we know now could go through a lot of changes in the future.'

'This is real history. The Sculpting skill at its height touches even the domain of miracles. Would I be able to find such greatness in fishing techniques, too?'

'I see a lot of strong warriors here.'

In the sky, there were gigantic winged snakes flying around freely; an extraordinary sight, but nothing was out of the ordinary considering the fact that this city was home to so many sculptural lifeforms.

Emperor Geihar smiled contently.

"This is the place where the largest number of my sculptural children is gathered in the whole Empire."

Naturally, there were bustling market streets inside the city. Weed and his companions were far beyond the level of using any items bought from ordinary stores, but they still looked around the shops out of curiosity.

"We have a lot of good quality products. Would you come in and take a look?"

"Come over here if you are looking for carpets to decorate your house!"

"Real men need weapons! You there, don't just walk past; take a look at these weapons!"

As there were a lot of different races formed by the sculptural creatures living in the city, the diversity of the items on sale was enormous. There were more than several hundred kinds of food products alone. The general stores sold all sorts of items, such as belts for earthworms, rabbit folk's earmuffs for protection against cold and decorative tooth straps for crocodiles. Irene bought a tooth strap for Nile.

"This is similar to the flying city Lavias, where they sell items and equipments for the Avians."

"They are also mainly selling food and daily supplies rather than equipment for combat."

Pale bought some items for Countryside Snake and Yellowy as well; things like a tail ornament for the Snake and a coat for Yellowy, of quite good quality.

"*Squeak*!"

"Moooo. I thank you."

Weed was watching all this from one step behind as if it was none of his concern. True, he was the one who granted life to those creatures, but he only did it in order to boss them around. But Emperor Geihar was also watching Weed with a pleased expression on his face.

"Your friends all look quite spectacular, too."

"…my 'friends'?"

"Ah, excuse me; perhaps you regard them as family?"

"…"

To him, the sculptural creatures were nothing more than his subordinates. Still, since the reason Weed brought them with him to this adventure was to help him become friendly with the emperor rather than to use them for combat, so in the end his decision had yielded quite a positive outcome.

"Especially the one there — Yellowy, was what you called him? — which possesses such an exceptionally beautiful body. It symbolizes the mighty strength of a bull. Countryside Snake is very cute, too."

Emperor Geihar complimented Weed's sculptural creatures.

A natural flow of mood!

Weed intuitively realized that this was the moment to start bringing up his real purpose.

"Your Majesty."

"Just call me master, no need for such formality."

"Yes, master!"

The more intimate the title by which one addresses the other, the more difficult it is to refuse any request between them. When asking a difficult favor of a person, one must build their moral justification slowly and gradually.

"As you know, I am from the future. Do you have any idea as to what will happen to these friends of yours in this city, master?"

After taking some time to think, Emperor Geihar replied sadly, "I can guess. I wish they could live peacefully together with the humans… but that's probably not what's going to happen."

"You've already surmised that much."

"Humans wage war even between themselves out of their greed to have more than the others; it would be difficult for them to accept the existence of these sculptural creatures."

"Yes, I'm afraid you're quite right."

Weed informed the emperor of the series of events that was to follow in the future. After the death of Emperor Geihar, all the sculptural lifeforms would leave and the Arpen Empire would collapse into ruin. After a very long time, some of these creatures would eventually turn into monsters, or choose to set off to faraway, desolate regions untouched by humans and dwell there.

"So that is… how this will all end."

Emperor Geihar fell silent, apparently in a considerable shock. Weed's companions decided to watch this exchange rather than stepping out to intervene.

'How is he going to convince this emperor to help him?'

'I'm about to witness his secret tricks of persuasion that have never failed before — a 100 percent success rate.'

'There's some analysis suggesting that the key factor for Weed's success as a legendary adventurer was his silver tongue. Maybe he's going to speak some impressive lines?'

Even Pale, who had known Weed for a very long time, swallowed hard with anticipation; he had had very few chances to see Weed deal with local residents or heroes in order to achieve the goals for his quests. The companions were being filled with excitement at the prospect of witnessing his charisma and persuasion skills.

Weed pulled out a large bottle of liquor from his backpack.

Trickle trickle!

A stream of clear liquid filled a goblet made from red clay. It was a distilled spirit of the finest quality.

"Why don't you have a drink first?"

"What's this?"

"I've brewed this for you, master. Please, go ahead and try it."

"Hmm. I guess I'll just have a taste, then."

As he was in quite a gloomy mood thinking of the future of his sculptural creatures, Emperor Geihar emptied the goblet in a single draft.

"Kyaah. This is very good!"

"I've got some roasted squid and chicken wings, too."

The first goblet he had emptied just as a light drink soon led to the second shot, and then the third.

Weed kept taking out more snacks and bottles of spirit from his bag.

"This is such a fine day today, with cool breezes too, isn't it?"

"Yes, you're right."

With the delicious side dishes raising the emperor's appetite, the first bottle was gone in a flash.

"Haaah… I'm so glad that I've met you. You are training as a sculptor, and you have such excellent cooking skills on top of that…"

"Sculpting is the best, master!"

Another bottle was drained to the bottom.

"For my whole life, beauty has been my closest companion… Although I have made more friends who understood my ideals over time… I cannot help but feel rather lonely sometimes…"

"I completely understand how you feel, master."

Geihar continued drinking as he lamented over his solitude. One more bottle became empty before they knew.

"I shoun't… have so much drrrink… in the middle o'the daaay…"

The emperor even started talking strangely as he got increasingly drunk. Weed, who usually prefers to water down the liquor, was taking out only strong drinks this time. He had also brought a very diverse range of side dishes including fries, roasts, soups, noodles and fruits, and was setting them up on the table with a quickness that wouldn't have been possible without some preparation in advance.

"This is just some light drinking, master. Considering your daily tasks of ruling this empire and looking after your countless sculptural friends, a brief repose like this is only necessary for the better future of everyone."

Even as he spoke Weed deftly opened another bottle of spirit.

"Let's make this our last one, shall we? A teacher and his pupil sharing a drink together; good for strengthening our bond, wouldn't you think so?"

"I gueeeess… you're riiight, of course…"

As he shared the drink with Weed, Emperor Geihar disclosed the stories that had been hidden deep within his heart. The story of him spending his friendless childhood carving sculptures; and the story of how he was able to bestow life upon his creations by treating them with sincerity. Alcohol had the power to make people share their true heart, thereby giving them a delusion of finding a true friend in each other.

An epitome of persuasion technique using alcohol!

Just as when Geihar's eyes were starting to lose their focus,

"I, too, founded the Arpen Kingdom."

A low, heavy voice came out from Weed, who had been mostly listening to the stories of the emperor. Naturally, he had wetted his lips with a lot of saliva, which was the last shred of conscience he had failed to abandon until the end.

"And it wasn't for my own wealth and prosperity that I founded this kingdom. Humans were caught in the endless chain of wars… and those who built the Haven Empire were making heaps of money just for themselv-…I mean, people in general were in a lot of pain and suffering."

"…"

Although in a drunken stupor, Emperor Geihar seemed to come to himself a little by Weed's words.

"Sooo?"

"The Arpen Kingdom; as you might guess, I chose this name for my own nation because I had great respect for you, master."

These honeyed words brought great satisfaction to the mind of the emperor which was already fully open to Weed.

'I think I just used whatever name that popped up in my mind, since I couldn't come up with one.'

At first he was thinking about naming his kingdom 'LongLivetheGreatWeed', then eventually changed his mind and chose the name Arpen without any apparent reason.

"The kingdom of Arpen is also a peaceful nation like this. Humans, elves, dwarves and barbarians built a city together upon the ruined land to live in."

Weed gave Emperor Geihar a long and detailed account of the origin of Morata. He felt rather bored to tell him the full story, but the emperor seemed to enjoy the tale of the foundation of the Arpen Kingdom, so he continued on.

"Through much effort and at the risk of my life, I was able to rescue the Arnins and Ellyons as well. The Arnins had been living miserably as slaves before I came to save them."

"Hooow… hooorrible…"

Emperor Geihar's body trembled with rage. A drunken person easily fell asleep, so it was necessary to arouse his anger with an appropriate timing.

"There's just one thing the Arpen Kingdom wishes to achieve: the happiness of everyone living in this land. And I aim to rescue the rest of your friends, too, master."

"You have not forgotten them…"

The emperor's voice suddenly sounded somewhat more sober. At the very instant when his heart was full of gratitude towards Weed, the Alcohol Persuasion technique also reached its climax.

"The Arpen Kingdom is in peril, due to the upcoming war. I know I am being shameless for making such a difficult request, but please, for the sake of all the sculptural races facing the hard times ahead of them, lend me your aid to rescue your children and bring peace to this continent!"

In this moment,

Weed knew he scored the goal perfectly.

***

As Weed and Emperor Geihar continued drinking while passing the goblets back and forth, Pale and the rest of the companions stood far back, but they were all listening closely to the conversation between the two men.

"Do you think this will really work?"

"It would certainly be very difficult to convince him only through talking. I mean, we're asking the emperor to bestow life to all those sculptures and put every ounce of his energy and strength to help us even after he gets revived by Sculpture Resurrection skill."

Zephyr was rather pessimistic, and so was Seasoned Crab.

"If this persuasion plan fails, the numerous sculptures which are being constructed in the Garnav Plain will all be useless. And that is going to be a tremendous blow to our side."

They have all been quite impressed by the combat capabilities of the sculptural creatures such as the Baraags. Depending on whether Emperor Geihar would join this battle, different options would be open to them as to the ways to fight against the Haven Empire. After all, this was Geihar von Arpen they were talking about — the hero who had changed the course of history.

'If Weed-nim's hidden weapons in the Garnav Plain are rendered utterly useless, we could lose this battle.'

'We must persuade him to help us, no matter what.'

Surka returned from her visit to the nearby restaurant.

'I've bought some spicy roasted pork! Just dip in this sauce and enjoy.'

The companions continued watching Weed and the emperor as they munched on the roasted pork. When Weed filled the goblet with the spirit for the first few times, they all thought that he would bring up the subject about his real purpose of this adventure anytime soon.

"Look, another bottle…"

"They are drinking really fast."

"Ooh! Weed-nim spat out the liquor in his mouth when the emperor wasn't looking!"

The process of persuasion to save the Versailles Continent: make the subject consume alcohol without a single second of break, and discreetly fawn on him. Emperor Geihar, being a simple and honest man, spoke out his mind and disclosed his sincere feelings and thoughts. And Weed caught his chance to strike out, asking for the emperor's help.

"Huh. So that was the true reason why he founded the Arpen Kingdom?"

"Wow. I guess Weed-nim really lives to help others in need. I've never realized that he has had such worries and concerns in his mind all this time."

"…Wait, that really can't be true."

Even the companions who knew all too well about Weed's true nature couldn't help but feel confused for a short while. Everything he had ever put any effort into was for his own wealth and prosperity, but after being wrapped up by a layer of romanticization, all of his deeds were beginning to make him look like a savior of the continent. His story suddenly turned into the biography of a hero, who chose the path of hardship as a sculptor for the sake of art and beauty, ventured on a number of dangerous quests in order to save the world, and eventually managed to build his own kingdom.

Zephyr cocked his head curiously.

"Well, there's nothing outright false in his story in terms of the facts, but to those who have been watching him for a long time, there are some parts which are simply not very convincing."

Irene smiled uneasily.

"Well, I must say I agree with you."

As Weed's closest associates, they were well aware of the numerous incidents that involved him including dominating the trade of the Arpen Kingdom and speculative investments in the land around Puhol Water Park. Not that they were in any position to criticize him — they had each received a free villa located in that water park themselves.

'Still, nobody suffered any unfair loss because of that, so what's the big deal?'

'It's certainly true that the Versailles Continent has become a better place thanks to Weed-nim.'

'There would be very few Northern users who bear any sort of grudge against Weed-nim.'

While it was up for debate whether he really was a good king, with all things considered he was undoubtedly creating a world that offered a happier life for everyone. He only cared for his selfish interests and desires, but the speed and the scale at which he strived to gratify those interests and desires were so enormous that he ended up contributing considerably to the growth of the kingdom itself. All those great architectural structures, city developments and construction of traffic networks wouldn't have been possible without Weed's achievements.

"Lend me your aid to rescue your children and bring peace to this continent!"

The end of Weed's persuasion.

Emperor Geihar had no reason to refuse his request. Weed was his only pupil who had followed his footsteps as a sculptor, and was a true successor of the Arpen Empire, although these were all somewhat exaggerated truths that were planted inside the emperor's head.

'How commendable his attitude is… and his sincerity in trying to help his master…'

This much was enough to move his mind, but Weed had cleared all those quests for the continent and even rescued sculptural races on top of it. And how respectful and affable had he been ever since he first met Geihar!

"I shall help… howevvver I cannn…"

The hero who united the Versailles Continent.

Emperor Geihar accepted Weed's request with a drunken tone.

(To be continued…)