June 4, 1497, Age of the Sea Circle
Orion took a bite of the dry, hard bread, feeling a strange flavor on his taste buds that he couldn't easily describe.
He was at a small food stall in one of the villages near the capital, sampling the local specialties, which were far from appetizing.
Orion had food supplies in his inventory, but during his days touring this kingdom, he had eaten the local foods with an almost anthropological interest.
He wanted to better understand the daily lives of the people who lived in this place, which he aimed to free from the corrupt royal family's control.
He had been researching the situation in this kingdom in detail, and he already had a pretty good idea of what was going on here. His espionage skills, which he had acquired during his six-month stay in Guanhao, had been very useful in his investigative work. After just four days he already had the information he needed to begin implementing a plan.
This kingdom was called Roux, which surprised Orion a little, as it shared the name of the Named Character 'Lucky Roux'.
The royal family of this place was the Vasco family, which was tremendously corrupt and had driven the common people to live in misery for many years.
Orion had visited the capital and infiltrated the royal castle to investigate the Vascos, and found their corruption, hedonism, and tyranny to be almost cartoonish.
The members of the Vasco family had one characteristic in common: they were all obese. But this obesity wasn't genetic, but simply a reflection of their dissolute lifestyles.
The kingdom had been suffering from recurring famines for decades, but the royal family had never gone hungry, and they were a true example of tyranny's worst facet.
While the rest of the people suffered, they grew rich and enjoyed life to the fullest. Obviously, this had generated great discontent among the people, who dreamed of better times, even though they lacked the power to make those dreams come true.
If there was one thing the Vasco family was particularly good at, it was exercising their control over the kingdom with utter brutality, and they would never allow any resistance that threatened their position to emerge under their noses.
They had already crushed several attempts at revolution over the past few years, and they had done so cruelly and swiftly, before the seeds of dissent could fully germinate.
However, no matter how many times the royal family trampled on people's dreams, dreams were impossible to erase, and a new resistance would emerge, trying to flourish in the arid soil of this battered nation.
And precisely that resistance, which was just beginning to form, was the reason Orion was sitting here at this small food stall.
Orion finished eating the horrible bread and gave a coin to the food stall owner. When the man took it, he saw the small red mark on it. His muscles tensed, and a thin layer of sweat slicked his back
He saw the man's reaction and immediately understood his worry, thinking he'd been discovered by an enemy. After all, Orion was an unfamiliar face. To suddenly use the mark of the rebellion in front of him, one of the most central members, was undoubtedly an event that could easily be misinterpreted.
"I have no bad intentions, I just want to talk," Orion said calmly.
The stall owner looked at him with trepidation and finally handed him a small piece of paper, without saying anything.
Orion took the paper and left.
Clearly, open discussion about the revolution was impossible in public, as the royal family had informants scattered throughout the kingdom.
Orion walked away from the food stall and disappeared without a trace. He entered his Pocket Dimension and analyzed the information on the small piece of paper, which included a location and a time.
That night, Orion arrived at the indicated location—a remote area in a small southern town, near the mine where Lucky Roux worked.
He checked the surroundings, confirmed there were no problems, and then walked directly into the ramshackle house where a meeting of revolutionaries seeking to free themselves from the despotic reign of the Vasco royal family was taking place.
Of course, this location was not the heart of the revolution, and there were only a few people who had come specifically to meet with Orion after he requested an audience.
Inside the ramshackle house, he encountered five men, who were smoking nervously. When they saw him arrive, they became alert, fearing that Orion was an agent of the king.
Similar things had happened before, and they had learned through trial and error how to operate as a resistance fighter. Still, they were neither very experienced nor very strong, posing no threat to the royal family, which nonetheless pursued them relentlessly.
The Vascos might be greedy, hedonistic, and perhaps a little stupid and arrogant, but at least they knew how to keep their lands under control. Even if they had to shed rivers of blood to do so.
Orion approached the men, pulled a folder from his inventory, and threw it on the table, stating bluntly:
"This is the information I obtained from the royal palace. As you can see, your presence has already been discovered, and it won't be long before the Vascos move to wipe you out"
Orion's words were like a bomb detonating in the ears of the resistance fighters. One of them picked up the folder on the table and began reading the files in it. Little by little, his face grew progressively paler, and his body was drenched in sweat.
These files contained not only the names of the revolution's members but also detailed information about their families, the organization's rallying points, and future plans, among other details.
They were simply naked in front of the royal family!
The man passed the folder to his companions and focused his gaze on Orion, who was waiting quietly to one side.
"Who are you, sir?" the man asked.
"My name isn't important; you can call me 'O'. The important thing is that I'm here to offer my help," Orion replied calmly.
"Help? What kind of help?" the man asked again, still not quite grasping Orion's objective
"I want to help you defeat the Vascos and overthrow them. Basically, I want to help you achieve your ultimate goal of rebelling."
The men, who had already finished reading the files, looked at Orion with great curiosity, unsure how to react to his words.
The man who had read the file first, and who seemed to be the group's leader, looked at him solemnly and asked,
"Why do you want to intervene in the affairs of this kingdom? What do you hope to achieve?"
He may not have had much experience as a revolutionary, and may even have been a little naive in his idealism, but he knew there were no free lunches in the world. If Orion was offering his help, he definitely wanted something in return.
"It's not one specific thing, but rather a combination of reasons. Primarily, I have a grudge against the Vascos. However, I also want you to hand over all the slaves in this kingdom once you successfully overthrow the royal family. If you accept that condition, you will have my help," Orion replied, without revealing his true goals.
It would be very complicated to explain the true reason behind his decision to help them, so he simply gave them a plausible reason and requested a reward that aligned with his goals.
In reality, he wanted to help the people of this kingdom simply because he couldn't stand being idle after learning about the kind of life they lived, but he also wanted to recruit the monstrous genius, Lucky Roux. To do so, he had to assure Lucky Roux that the people of this kingdom wouldn't suffer the royal family's retaliation after the slaves escaped.
That was why he had decided it was best to ally himself with the amateur revolutionaries who were already attempting change: help them overthrow the Vasco, and then 'appropriate' all the slaves.
This way, he could accomplish both of his goals simultaneously.
The group's leader looked at him doubtfully, asking:
"How can we know you're not simply leading us into a trap?"
Orion shook his head slightly.
"If I truly wanted to harm you, do you think I'd need to go to all that trouble? With the information contained in that file, it would be quite easy to completely wipe out the resistance," Orion replied, pointing to the folder in one of the men's hands.
It was true: if Orion had ill intentions towards them, he could have eliminated them without much trouble, just as the royal family planned to do in the coming days.
They were lucky that he had appeared just in time to save them from certain death and from becoming just another of the rebellions quelled by the Vascos.
The men looked at each other, unsure what to say. Seeing their reaction, Orion continued his offer of goodwill.
"I have thoroughly investigated your organization, and all I can say is that you are destined to fail if you continue down the path you are on. What I am offering you is the opportunity to emerge victorious in the fight against the Vasco."
Orion paused and looked at the five men in turn, who were listening to his words with timidity and trepidation.
"I can provide you with weapons, soldiers, an effective plan, counterintelligence, and above all, enough power to confront the royal family. Your splinter faction, despite its great aspirations, lacks capable fighters, and there's no way you can directly confront the Vascos without outside help"
Orion took a step forward and concluded imposingly.
"Basically, without my help, you are destined to fail!"
It might sound arrogant on his part, but it was true. This group of rebels had no chance of confronting the Vascos; their attempts were nothing more than child's play in the eyes of the corrupt royal family.
The man leading the group remained silent, weighing Orion's words. Finally took out a Den Den Mushi and made a call.
Of course, they had no counterintelligence methods, so if someone was trying to intercept their calls, they would immediately be able to know everything they said. Fortunately, during his investigation of this kingdom, Orion verified that the royal family didn't have any black Den Den Mushi to spy on. This spoke volumes about the level of influence this royal family had in this world.
The man communicated quietly with someone through the Den Den Mushi. Eventually approached Orion and handed him the snail.
"Our leader wants to speak with you," the man said.
Orion nodded, speaking directly into the Den Den Mushi.
"Hello? Mark? Have you made a decision?"
Of course, Orion knew who the leader of this rebellion was; he had investigated them thoroughly in just a few days, and perhaps knew more about their situation than many of its members.
There was a brief silence on the other side of the Den Den Mushi, and finally a hoarse voice sounded.
"We are willing to accept your help, but we need proof that your goals truly align with ours."
Orion raised his eyebrows and said with a smile.
"Are you in a position to make demands? Without my help, you can only fail miserably."
"No matter. We'd rather fail trying than be betrayed mid-fight. My men are willing to die for the cause, but I will not tolerate their deaths due to my carelessness in accepting foreigners into our ranks. If you want us to collaborate, you'll have to give us proof of loyalty"
Orion sighed, thinking that this rebellion leader was overcomplicating things. So many preambles weren't necessary; it even seemed illogical to him. But it was true that he needed the rebels' help to eliminate the Vascos.
This wasn't because the rebels possessed great combat power, but simply because they had credibility among the kingdom's common people and could facilitate the plan to overthrow the royal family
"Okay, we'll do it your way. What do you have in mind?" Orion said with some resignation.
Right now, he couldn't undertake the task of overthrowing the royal family, as it wasn't a task that could be completed in a couple of days. His plan was to travel back to Pacific Town to drop off the people he had rescued and establish the return point of his 'Space Gate'.
In the meantime, he would maintain contact with the rebels, preparing the attack on the royal family. He would then return shortly with mercenaries and enough weapons to carry out the plan.
His plan was for the entire process to take a few months, which was why he needed the rebels' collaboration to help him prepare everything before he returned to the Roux Kingdom.
The man's voice rang through the Den Den Mushi.
"I want you to kill Prince Vasco Shot, who has been tormenting the people of the kingdom for years."
Orion narrowed his eyes and recalled the information he had available about this prince.
According to the information he had gathered, this man was truly the worst kind of depraved individual. He enjoyed spending his days roaming the kingdom and mercilessly killing people. He also had a disgusting obsession with raping women in front of their partners. It was even rumored he dabbled in cannibalism, though Orion hadn't found any information to prove this last claim, and it seemed more like an urban legend circulating among the kingdom's people.
Regardless, it was obvious that this individual was utterly detestable, and there was no problem whatsoever in eliminating someone like that. What's more, he would probably earn a large amount of SP if he did so, as this type of criminal was likely considered a "major tumor" by the system.
If there was anything that deterred him from complying with the rebel leader's request, it was the warning the system had given him regarding this Named Character.
Since acquiring the system, it had only issued a warning like this once, and it was precisely in regards to Vasco Shot, so Orion feared it wouldn't be that simple to get rid of him
"Is it necessary to kill him? What if I fail? Would you refuse to join forces in that case?" Orion asked.
He had to ask this question, because if not killing Vasco Shot eliminated any possibility of cooperation, he wouldn't risk coming into direct contact with this mysterious Named Character prematurely. He would then have to find another way to destroy the royal family, even if it took longer.
It was inevitable that he would have to confront Vasco Shot, as he was part of the royal family he needed to eliminate. However, he preferred not to alert the enemy before carrying out the real attack on the kingdom's royalty.
Because if he failed to eliminate him, it would only alert them to potential dangers and further complicate matters.
"No matter. It's enough if you confront him seriously. That way we'll know you're truly on our side, and we can accept your help with peace of mind"
Orion weighed his options for a moment, finally agreeing to the rebel leader's request.
He vanished from the room and raced toward the marker on the system map showing Vasco Shot's location
In the mineral mine to the south, one of the slaves stopped his work, raising his head as if observing something in the distance, even though it was impossible to see anything within the darkness of the underground tunnel.
.............................
Meanwhile, at the highest point of the Red Line, Mary Geoise.
"Shamrock, Eldric! Come here!" said Figarland Garling in an imposing voice.
"Yes, Father!" Shamrock said, quickly approaching, responding to his father's call.
Eldric, on the other hand, approached with a weary gait, clearly not too interested in the solemn man's call.
Garling frowned slightly at the attitude of his son, whom he had brought back after many years but who had already been tainted by the filth of the lower human world. He was giving him a major headache.
"The location of this year's native hunting competition has been decided. You two will accompany the nobles participating this time, so get ready. You will leave in about two months," Garling said tersely.
Shamrock's eyes lit up.
"I also want to participate in the competition!" the young nobleman said enthusiastically, but was immediately rejected by his father.
"No. This time you will go as guards. Don't cause any trouble, or I will punish you severely when you return!" Garling said, leaving the room and throwing away a sheet of paper with information about the upcoming competition.
Eldric said nothing, merely staring coldly at the back of the man who called himself his father.
On the other hand, Shamrock stepped forward and took the sheet of paper, reading the information about the competition.
"This time the competition will be held in South Blue, in a place called... Roux? What a vulgar name," Shamrock scoffed.
Eldric paid no attention to his stupid brother and headed to the chambers of his older sister Celestia, who was the only person in this family he considered a decent human being.
Shamrock's voice sounded behind him again,
"Hahaha! Eldric, you have to listen to this. The kingdom where the Native Hunting will be held was originally an affiliated nation, but they decided to stop paying tribute. Now they'll be used as an example to the rest of the world!"
Eldric continued walking, paying no attention to his brother, as Shamrock's laughter continued to echo throughout the luxurious mansion.
"Hahaha, how stupid can they be?! Hahahaha!"