Entropy's Servant

Chapter 26 - End of Part 1

The king nodded again. His face had somewhat started to pale. The amount of sweating may have increased, but it was hard to tell.

"We encountered there five monsters. Honestly speaking, judging from their mana reactions... I'd rule at least one of them was final boss-class, and the other four, if together, were equally strong."

"It was like facing two final bosses at once...", Ebstrea said from behind Reynald's back, trying to restrain her laughter.

On that front, Reynald was actually in a tight spot as well. It seemed games had given them a solid image of what a 'king' should look like, and understandably, the king in front of them did not fit this image.

"These... These monsters...", the king said.

"Well, first of all", Reynald said, picking up on the king's intentions, "there was a Red Dragon. It wasn't as big as the ones the sages speak of, so it was probably a juvenile, but still, the pressure it gave off was terrifying." Reynald illustrated with his hands as he spoke.

"I think the really pale girl was a vampire", Ebstrea said, "since she had a parasol. I think she had more mana than me, though..."

"The girl who had beef with Yxon was a Devil, wasn't she?", Reynald said. "After all, she had horns, and she was purple.

"Then there was that girl with the witch hat. Wasn't she a witch?", Ebstrea theorised. Her shoulders slumped as she continued: "And she had more mana than me, too..." It appeared her pride as a magician had been hurt by the unfortunate encounter.

"And then there was that guy", Reynald said, subconsciously grimacing as he thought of him, fiddling with his hands.

"Did you hear what Yxon said about him?", Ebstrea asked, the grimace on her face not dissimilar.

"No, I was busy fighting the guy, and I don't even remember most of that", Reynald answered.

"He said, rather than a final boss, his status was more like that of a Royal Knight...", Ebstrea said, taking advantage of the fact these two had an MMO in common.

"Wai--as in, World End Online's Royal Knights?", Reynald responded in disbelief. A bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

"I, uh...", the king interrupted, "presume these are different from our royal knights?" He looked at the walls of armoured knights on the sides of the throne room, each identical to the next. If the king had looked less grotesque, they might've looked intimidating.

"Yes, quite", Ebstrea said. "In some video games, there are rules the players have to follow--but sometimes, it's possible for them to break these rules anyway."

"For example", Reynald said, "in most games, you weren't allowed to exchange real money for in-game money with other players. That'd be unfair."

The king looked puzzled, but didn't speak. It seemed his pride was too big for his own good.

"... Say we liken a video game to a martial arts tournament", Reynald said, picking up on the king's lack of understanding. "It'd be unfair to the participants if someone bought their way to the finals instead of participating, right?"

The king nodded strongly--it seemed he had an interest in martial arts tournaments, so he understood the comparison. Behind him, a young man with the same hair and eye colour silently made an expression of lamenting at his father's lack of understanding of things he didn't like.

"So, there are systems in place to prevent people from breaking the rules", Ebstrea continued. "Oftentimes, fighting in a town is also against the rules."