After a minute or so, the King opens his eyes and speaks in a firm tone while looking straight ahead.

“There are no rules or laws that would forbid you from starting such an establishment, nor there are dogmas that force you to accept common beliefs.”

He picks up his glass of wine, takes a sip and spins it gently, seemingly thinking about what to say.

“You see… Humanity's hatred towards all other races is deeply rooted in the minds of the people. Centuries ago it was us who were the weakest race in the continent, as you are most likely aware from your studies. Always pushovers, dying in thousands in many battles against any physically or magically stronger enemies. It was us who were often viewed as an easy target. The Goddess took pity at the imbalance and our poor state and gifted the world with the System, which allowed Humans to take a peek at their own potential and focus on developing it. With it as a guide, humanity’s high population finally started to give us an edge.”

He pauses to sigh.

“That was centuries ago. Personally, I have nothing against other races. Even more, I view all the citizens as my subjects—people living in my domain, under my protection. Being a king comes with great power, but also with even greater constraints. Do you understand what I’m getting at?”

I cross my arms and ponder for a while. Being an influential monarch has a lot of power behind one's words and actions. But constraints?

「Ah… I get it.」

“If you were to suddenly announce a drastic change in the law or even just beliefs, like proclaiming that all the races are now to be treated equally in the kingdom, people would most likely riot and rise. Worst-case scenario, you could get dethroned and branded as a traitor, right?”

“Pretty much.” He shows a wry smile. “Honestly, since the day I took the throne after my father, I did whatever I could to change the situation in the kingdom, but no matter what I tried, I wasn’t able to overcome that generations-long hatred, especially amongst the people of high status. In the end, I gave up. As you mentioned, it started getting too risky. But…”

He stands up and points at me.

“Your idea might be the very spark that ignites the fires of change. If you succeed in creating a place where the girls of different races will willingly and happily interact with people here, if you succeed in showing that when met with respect and kindness they reciprocate with the same, and in showing that we can all coexist on equal terms and benefit from it, you might have a chance in changing at least some people’s views! I might have already given up, but with your help, my dear friend, I still have hope!”

The King approaches me and puts both of his arms on my shoulders with a wide smile.

“You have my full support in whatever you are going to do! Obviously, that’s between us. I can’t let the public get a whiff of this. But! Ask for what you need and I shall see it done! I naturally have my ways!”

Quite shocked with this sudden turn of events, I gently shrug off his arms and move to the balcony to think a bit. Certainly, having the support of someone of such calibre is really tempting. But on the other hand, I will end up kind of a pawn for the King’s plans. His objective isn’t really against mine. My priority is to assure a safe haven for the girls. The talk about changing the image of non-human races was just an addition. I turn around and give my reply.

“I agree. This is too good of an opportunity to pass. I didn’t expect such a surprise.”

I move back to the table and we both sit back. Silence falls over the room. Both of us are most likely recounting the whole situation in our heads. The King’s mouth opens for a moment, intending to say something, but he stops. After a minute, he leans back and speaks.

“If the business starts well… I might even be able to direct some higher nobles to your establishment, who could certainly have a chance to become regular customers.”

“Oh?” I raise one brow curiously.

“There might be a few who are actually interested in trying such things with certain other races… I once overheard them talking about it.”

While speaking he avoids any eye contact, not raising his gaze from the table, and sips his wine. I catch a glimpse of a bead of sweat rolling through his forehead.

「Some nobles, huh? I see...」

With a knowing smile on my face, I decide to check out this hint.

“That’s really fortunate. Did you by any chance catch any details of their conversation?”

He starts overdramatically rubbing his forehead with a soundly ‘hmmmmm’, trying to recall the discussion.

“I think they were debating over Dark Elves and half-blood Catkin…”

「A man of culture as well. Our friendship will be legendary!」

“Gotcha. I can’t make any promises since I’m not going to be hunting for specific races, but if there’ll ever be a Dark Elf or Catkin girl willing to work with me, I’ll definitely let you know to inform your friends.” I wink at him.

He flashes a nervous smile and coughs.

“Well… What about the other Heroes then? I’ve been telling them you all are going to work as a team,” he asks, definitely trying to change the topic.

“I’d rather not tell them the details, for obvious reasons. We should go with me becoming a merchant in the city. That should be believable with my background,” I suggest.

“If you wish so, I’ll keep my lips sealed.”

I sigh heavily. The King looks at me and I shake my head while waving my hand.

“There’s so much stuff to be done… But first, I need to either find a nice locale in the city or find a place where one can be built.”

“Certainly. A working brothel won’t just drop down from the sky. Hmmmm…” He contemplates something for a bit. “The day after tomorrow, I planned to send all of you to register at the local Adventurer’s Guild. Although you don’t need it now, I still suggest you go with others. It might come helpful one day. I’ll take a look at some of the real estate records. I’m sure there are at least a few possessions either confiscated, abandoned or not yet auctioned. I’ll give you a list, so you can check them out after visiting the guild. If you manage to pick any of them, just let me know and I’ll make sure it ends up in your hands. Consider that as my first investment into our fruitful cooperation.”

He explains his suggestion with a smile. Well… I don’t have a reason to refuse. It’s gonna help a lot. I nod my head politely.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it. This will save a lot of time.”

“Ah! One more thing! I decided on gifting each of you one artefact from our treasury. Everyone has already picked theirs. Shall we deal with this now?”

“Guess it would be rude to decline. I feel like I’m receiving much more support than others though…”

We leave the room and head to the treasury. 

 

※※※

 

After fifteen minutes, he guides me to a huge ornate door. The King takes out some kind of oval badge or sigil and places it in a small cave-in. The whole door starts flashing with countless runes and magical circles and slowly opens after they all fade out.

We enter a huge hall with multiple corridors leading out of it. There are many rows of pedestals, armour and weapon racks, shelves and tables filled with various items.

“Just go around and pick whatever you like. Since we are already here, I’ll go and check onto something in one of the further chambers.” He leaves me standing in awe and disappears into one of the corridors.

「Seriously… How much does he trust me to just leave me like that...」

I begin my small journey. In an hour, I visit pretty much every hall I can enter. There are some really beautiful swords giving powerful vibes, but I don’t think those suit me. Rather than them, I’m looking for something that might come useful, but nothing catches my eye. I start considering picking up something at random or asking the King for a recommendation when a quite peculiar scene enters my sight.

There’s a chunk of weird black stone, around one-third of my height, standing in one of the corners surrounded by stanchions¹In event management a stanchion is an upright bar or post that includes retractable belts, velvet ropes, or plastic chains, sometimes in conjunction with wall-mounted barrier devices, barricades, and printed signage and often used for crowd control and engineering people flow and construction site safety. with a distance of something like ten meters. I move as close as they allow and take a peek at it. I can now distinguish some weird golden runes carved all around the stone, and also, a weird silvery object, like a pipe with a purple crystal on its end, sticking out of the stone.

「Hah. Is that this world’s equivalent of the Excalibur?」

I lean over the line trying to get some more details, and suddenly, all the hair on my body stands up and I’m covered in goosebumps. A strong sweet fragrance hits my nostrils. Surprised, I take a quick step back and the scent disappears. Leaning closer, it appears again. It’s very alluring. Now I realize the reason behind the stanchions with velvet ropes.

「Should I check it out? It might be dangerous… But, he didn’t mention to be wary of anything...」

I ponder for a moment, waging out the risks and possible gains. In the end, I resolve myself to move closer. This is the only thing that caught my attention. With every step, the smell intensifies. I arrive at the stone and examine the rod.

It looks kinda like the hilt of a sword now. As I suspected. The lower end is finished with a purple crystal shaped into a deltoid. The hilt is made out of some silvery metal and the handle is designed with a scaly pattern and covered in darker material, most likely imitating dragon’s scales or something.

「Here goes nothing!」

I prepare myself to pull and grab the handle with both hands. It’s long enough to be that of a longsword. The moment I assure my grip on it, a wave of warm energy, originating from the hilt, rushes through my whole body. Then once more. I get the feeling that it’s scanning me. Then it arrives once again, but this time, I feel like my whole life just flashes in front of my eyes. I blink a few times. The crystal starts glowing. I try to pull as hard as I can, and with a loud crack, the hilt breaks off the stone. But…

“EH?!”

The hilt is the only thing that comes out. Regaining my balance, I stare confusedly at the unexpectedly light ‘sword’ in my hand. The problem is, there’s no blade. The top end of the hilt ends up in something akin to a silver dragon head with its maw slightly open. Wide enough to figure out that if there was a blade coming out of it, the maw would be biting into it from top and bottom.

“Is this a joke?”

I wave the hilt a bit and look inside the dragon’s empty maw. The crystal isn’t glowing anymore.

“Did I break it?”

I check the stone, but there’s no sign of the blade even existing in the first place. I sigh and shrug. 

「The fact that I destroyed the stone persists, so I should take this with me. It would be rude to just act as nothing happened and pick something else.」

With the weird artefact in my hand, I walk back to the main hall. It looks like the King is not yet back, so I fiddle with the thing in my hands while waiting. Ten minutes later, I hear footsteps behind me.

“Oh, Al! You took way less time than the others. Did you pick something already?”

「Al? So, we are already on short nicknames level, eh?」

I turn around and wave my trophy to him. He suddenly stops and goes as pale as a ghost. His gaze strongly fixated on the hilt. I furrow my brows at him.

“A-a-are you okay?” he asks, visibly shaking.

“Um… yeah? Besides the disappointment from getting myself a broken sword, I think so. Something wrong?”

“How did you even… approach the stone?”

“I mean, I just walked? Honestly, I was sure it was a trap from how tempting and alluring its aura was.”

“Tempting and alluring?” he asks uneasily. “You didn’t feel like puking from a putrid smell, gouging out your eyes from the itchy feeling or stopping breathing to prevent your lungs from incinerating?”

I freeze. Then look at the thing in my hand while starting to sweat profusely.

“Was I… supposed to?”

“Well… The stanchions were placed around it so no one accidentally experiences those horrid sensations. We don’t know much about this… sword? Barely a few were able to even approach the stone to take a good look before losing consciousness.”

“Oh… And those who were able to?”

“They tried to pull it out obviously.”

“I guess it didn’t work.”

“Yeah…” He flashes a wry and nervous smile. “Say… You don’t feel like… exploding into a puddle of boiling blood, right?”

My heart drops to the ground. Alongside the hilt which just flew out of my hand. I take a few staggering steps back while staring at him with wide eyes.

“Relax! I don’t think it will happen now if it didn’t already when you touched it for the first time. I’m just… making sure...” He waves his hands.

“Don’t you fucking dare to scare me like that… I almost died from a heart attack…”

I take a few deep breaths and lean down to pick up the hilt gently. The King finally moves closer and takes a look at it too. 

“Ack!”

While moving my fingers over the crystal, I cut one over its sharp edge. I instantly focus on it and cast Rejuvenate to speed up the recovery. Suddenly, the crystal starts pulsating with purple flashes. I feel something gathering inside my body, and a second later, my right arm is surrounded by a purple helix of some kind of aura-like smoke. It connects to the crystal and I feel the hilt getting warmer. The same mist bursts out of the dragon’s maw and forms a long line, I’d say around three meters, of a dark purple colour. After it finishes forming, it looks like… a purplish whip-like tongue coming out of the dragon’s mouth.

“A blood-bound artefact… Incredible…” the King mutters in amazement.

Recalling what I learned about whips, I try to make a few moves. It feels very natural for me to use, like it’s an extension of my arm, and follows my wishes perfectly.

“If I remember correctly… After being marked with the owner’s blood, they won’t work in anyone else’s hands, right? And they kinda choose their own master,” I ask for confirmation.

“Yes, that’s what we know about them. Perhaps… the stone’s aura wasn’t foul for you because it chose you as its next master? Also, this is quite a rare catch. We know almost nothing about formless weapons, and I assume this is one of them. It is said they can take any form their owner wishes for.”

“Who knows…”

I decide to try out a few things and I learn that with just a thought, I can easily materialize and dematerialize the ‘blade’. I also can turn it into a purple mist which retains the whip-like form but doesn’t collide with objects. I try to imagine it being a sword, but it only stays in the mist-like shape and can’t be materialized like the whip.

“Well, at least it’s something. Having an ace in the sleeve might come in handy.”

We leave the treasury while discussing the plans for the day after tomorrow.

 

※※※

 

‘The day after tomorrow comes. One of the castle’s inner areas. All six of us are waiting for the King to arrive. Everyone is geared up and prepared the best they could.

Kamil is wearing almost a full plate armour in silvery-blue colour combinations. A strong, reinforced chest plate, greaves, thigh and arm guards. There’s a big shield half his size on his back, with a hilt of a fancy sword sticking out of it. A picture-perfect fantasy hero, with a brilliant cape.

Paul dons a full brown leather armour with chainmail under his vest. A long cape with a hood covers his back. A quiver full of arrows is attached to his belt horizontally. He holds a beautiful, masterfully decorated bow. It kinda gives elven vibes.

Marcia presents herself in a leather tank top and hot pants. Most of her skin is uncovered; only her calves and arms are being protected by leather greaves and armguards. Behind her back, two shortswords are hanging down, green and red. Definitely artefacts too.

Natalie wears tight leather pants, a white shirt and an armoured leather vest. A short cape covers her left shoulder and falls to the back. A rapier by her side and something akin to an acoustic guitar on a belt hangs on her back. On her head, a stylish tricorne with a feather. If someone would ask me to describe a perfect bard image, I’d use her as my example.

And there’s Shino. Dark high boots with white details, black stockings, a short black skirt and a cloth white shirt with long sleeves, wider near the end, and cut-out armpits. Two crossing belts on her waist, with one upholding an ornamental black scabbard of a katana. It reminds me of some of her old artworks.

Finally, there’s me. Dark brown boots, caramel brown leather pants, a purple shirt and also caramel leather sleeveless vest. On top of that, a long walnut brown coat with an open front, dark insides and a nice collar, but not too high. I’ve decided to make purple my brand colour. Behind my back under the coat, I’m hiding the bladeless hilt, strapped to my waist.

The King arrives accompanied by a maid holding a tray.

“We’ve already discussed the plan, so let’s get straight to the point. As my final gift, I’m giving you those rings with spatial storages. Unfortunately, they are very rare, so the insides are quite small, but your clothes, weapons and some necessities should fit.”

The maid moves to us starting with me. I glance over the rings and pick up a plain-looking dark one instantly. She moves away and I put it on. Focusing my mind on it, I can sense the space inside. Currently, there’s some bottled water, food and money there. As he said, it’s not very spacious.

“Well then. After registering at the guild, there will be a carriage waiting for the five of you. I wish you luck!”

Everyone cheers and they start chatting between themselves.

“Wait,” Natalie suddenly speaks up. “Aren’t there six of us here?”

“Well, that’s certainly so, but…”

“But, I’m not really suitable to join your adventuring party.” I take a few steps forward, turn around, and take over the question. “You all know what my Class is and I don’t have any decent offensive or supportive capabilities. I would just drag you down.”

“Hah! Definitely. At least you are aware of that.” Kamil smirks.

“Exactly.” I nod to him. “That’s why I decided to stay in the capital and try running some kind of business. The King agreed, so I shouldn’t have any problems with that. I’ll just stick to something I’m good at, while you guys have fun exploring around.” I end with a smile.

Surprisingly, there aren’t any additional comments or doubts. Only Shino seems kinda down. I don’t think that Paul cares and Kamil with Marcia definitely approve of this. As usual, I can’t get any read from Natalie. She rarely shows any emotions.

We depart, and half an hour later, arrive at the guild. It just screams ‘typical isekai-fantasy adventurers guild’ from the very entrance. Huge wooden building with lots of windows. Inside, an inn-like lobby, few counters near the walls with professionally dressed girls behind them, a few quest or notice boards and such. The only thing lacking is the rowdy atmosphere. Currently, it’s kinda calm. There are parties of people going around or sitting at the tables, but it’s just like your typical inn.

Others got some kind of a recommendation from the King and are guided for a rank assessment test after speaking with one of the women. I just nonchalantly register at the side, starting at the lowest F-rank. Fortunately, it’s a paper form registration and it doesn’t require you to state your exact Class, so I just fill in the support role with some healing skills.

Since there’s not much more for me to do here, I bid farewell to the cute receptionist and exit the building. 

“Sir Carter?”

Someone calls my name and I turn around to see an older man in a butler suit, with neatly arranged brown hair and a fancy moustache.

“I was assigned to guide you through the list of estate locations,” he informs me with a slight bow.

“Great. I’ll be in your care then. Let’s go.”

Then, we spend the whole day moving around the town and checking all the suggested properties. The King prepared a long list of different buildings in many districts of the city. We visit houses, pubs, inns, warehouses and any other kinds of locums, but none of them actually suit my needs.

This one is too small. The next one is too ugly. That one has a horrendous interior design. Another one was a safe house for some criminal scum. Then, there’s this one located in the worst possible alley. Or in the part of the noble’s district where no other people can enter. No sleeping quarters. No kitchen or dining area. Not enough rooms and no possibility to expand anywhere.

I’m slowly getting annoyed by the fact that within the list of like tens of buildings, there isn’t even a single one that would fulfil most of the criteria. While following the butler, I finally conclude that I had enough for today. It’s slowly getting dark. Before I can speak, he does so first.

“We’ve reached the end of the list I’ve been provided with. I think it would be best to end for today.”

“Yeah. I’m pretty tired of it too. Thank you for your hard work. I’ll continue tomo—”

Mid-sentence, I notice I passed him. I turn around and look at the butler standing a few meters behind me.

“This is actually the last one, Sir Carter.”

I look around. We are somewhere on the edge of the noble and mercantile districts. In the vicinity, there are just some plain-looking houses and shops.

“Where?” I ask, confused.

He smiles and signals with his head to the right. I follow his hint.

“You are fucking kidding me…”

We are standing near a white stone fence and the main gate to the front yard of a huge u-shaped mansion. It’s two stories high, has a fancy entrance with four beautiful white pillars, a small fountain with a narrow path surrounding it, and a lot of rooms, at least judging by the windows in the side segments. Its main colour is white, with grey details and finishings. And from the looks of the fence encircling it, there’s definitely some space behind it too.

「This little jerk of a king… He deliberately left it for the very last… Hahaha...」