I Became a Level -99 Vicious Lord

‘So does this mean that, Old Man Quran can see into the essence of my soul?’

Of course, since this was a statement from an ancient text, it couldn’t be 100% true.

Why?

Because it was an ancient source.

Whether it’s technology, materials, or anything else, the newest is the most accurate and the best, so it would be foolish to unconditionally trust an old record, wouldn’t it?

Besides, if it was something Elder Alphondal had seen, it was unlikely to have been written by a dragon personally; it was more likely to be some sort of conjecture or data written down by a human.

But with a living, breathing dragon at Otto’s side, it wasn’t too difficult to just ask.

Otto had an opportunity to check out the ancient texts.

‘Okay, when I get a chance, I’ll ask him, I’ll get to the bottom of this.’

Maybe it would give him a clue as to what brought him to this world.

Of course, with Quran suffering from dementia, it’s not going to be easy to have a normal conversation with him…

“Thank you for your words, Elder.”

“Hahaha. That’s all I have to say to the scion of the family. You’re the one who shouldn’t have bothered to talk to an old man who’s about to die.”

“No, your words were helpful.”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

Otto bowed graciously to the family elder.

Alphondal cocked his head, wondering what was causing Otto to react this way. But he quickly lost interest.

After all, he didn’t have long to live, and he didn’t want to be drawn into something so minor.

‘Okay. I have a clue, and maybe I can get a plausible answer from, Old Man Quran.’

Otto vowed that when he returned to the Kingdom of Lota, he would seek out and speak with Quran.

A few hours later.

*Thump! *Thump! *Thump!*

Kairos walked out of the laboratory with no less than thirty-three armored figures.

He had brought with him his former subordinates who had become Death Knights.

But Kairos’ men didn’t seem to have any sinister aura about them.

“Hehehe. Death Knights are created by evil will and black magic, so they are bound to be evil at their core. But the ones I’ve created are purely made up of pure souls, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Oh?”

“Death knight is a bit awkward, so let’s just call them Soul Knights.”

Thus, Kairos had become a Knight Commander of 33 Soul Knights.

It was a demotion of dozens of ranks, from former Emperor to mere Knight Commander, but Kairos didn’t seem displeased at all.

In fact, he seemed to revel in it.

“Hehehe, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a chance to hang out like this, and it feels good, hehehe!”

Even though they couldn’t share a drink, just walking and talking together like this was enough to make him happy.

Besides, if they could maintain this for another three years or so, they could change into new bodies and become real humans, so of course he’d be more than happy.

“From now on, I am the Knight Commander of the Ghost Knights, Hahaha.”

Kairos proclaimed himself Knight Commander.

“Pfft.”

Otto snorted, knowing that Kairos was a million light-years away from being a knight.

‘Knight is a nonsense. Mercenary captain is more like it, yeah. Mercenary leader. It’s not a bad idea. We’ll hide his affiliation with the Kingdom of Lota and make him a mercenary.’

Otto grinned, thinking of how he could use Kairos and his men to his advantage.

He smirks, for he has just come up with a mission that would be perfect for Kairos and his men.

* * * * * //survive-as-a-prison-guard-in-the-game/ * * * * *

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“You have been a great help to me. I offer you my sincere gratitude.”

Kairos inclined his head toward Aphondal.

‘Eh This much?’

Otto laughed, recalling the times Kairos had refused to bow to anyone, let alone thank them.

‘It’s well deserved.’

But considering how much Alphondal had been a great deal of help to Kairos, it was understandable.

“No, no. You’ve helped me complete my research, so there’s not really anything to thank me for.”

“Hmm?”

“In creating the Soul Knight, I feel like I’ve found the final piece to a lifetime of research. I thank you, too.”

Alphondal also thanked Kairos.

“The final piece of your research…?”

“Yes.”

Alphondal smiled wryly.

“I may not have achieved exceptional sword and sorcery skills, but I have spent a lifetime studying magic, which is not bad for a scholar. However, it has always bothered me that I have not been able to contribute to the family name with any great achievements, but it seems that this time I will be able to complete my research.”

“Oh?”

“Before I go, I will present my findings and be laid to rest, and you must be there to see it unfold. Do you understand?”

“Of course.”

Otto smiled wryly.

‘What research have you completed, I wonder?’

Alphondal was new to even Otto during this time.

If it weren’t for the Kairos affair, he would never have had the chance to meet him in the first place.

The thought of a man like Alphondal, the product of a lifetime of research, was exciting, even if he didn’t know what it was.

“Well, I must be going. I have to continue my research.”

“Okay, elder. I wish you good luck.”

“Hahaha. Aye, I hope so.”

Alphondal smiled after, then glided back to his laboratory.

* * * * * //survive-as-a-prison-guard-in-the-game/ * * * * *

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Otto returned to the Kingdom of Lota.

“The laborers returned well, and with the amount of money Your Majesty gave them, they had enough left over for their own traveling expenses.”

“Really? That’s good. Although I can’t help the dead ones….”

“Your Majesty did the best you could. You know you can’t save everyone.”

Camille consoled Otto rather comfortingly.

“I know. I can’t save them all, but they’re still heads of the family who left their homes on a cold winter’s day to feed their families.”

“…….”

“People who have passed away keep haunting my thoughts. What makes me angry is that the likelihood of experiencing such a dirty fate increases for those who are poor and less educated. Whether they are simple manual laborers who sought out the labor guild or just ordinary farmers, they shouldn’t have had to face such harsh situations in the first place.”

“It’s a shame.”

“I need to see Archduke Wazir.”

Otto decided it would be a good idea to see Archduke Wazir and have a chat about the matter.

Though he had come close to staying out of the affairs of state, he felt that such an important matter should be handled by the king himself.

“Did something like that happen?”

Archduke Wazir was preoccupied with his usual administrative duties, but he frowned when Otto told him what had recently happened.

“I had no idea the Oberhausers were such an evil bunch.”

“And they will continue to be evil.”

“And you’re going to leave them alone?”

“While putting a curb on the most malicious deeds as much as possible, I plan to take advantage of the situation.”

“If that’s what you thought, you wouldn’t have come to me.”

“I thought we might need an institutional system in place that would protect the workers.”

“Hmm?”

“Wouldn’t it be better if the country just took care of the laborers and stuff? I mean, there’s the Labor Guild, but that’s just a money-sucking organization.”

[Labor Union] a guild that connects manual laborers with those in need of tasks, but due to its somewhat haphazard operation, its reputation is not particularly good.

In addition, it is often used for human trafficking, as happened in this case, and the fees for introducing and collecting work are very expensive.

As laborers, unable to personally seek work every time by running around, it was a facility utilized out of necessity.

“Ooh! You’ve got a pretty good idea!”

“Hahaha.”

“I hadn’t thought of that either, but from the sounds of it, it’s a pretty good idea. Plus, it’s an excuse to collect more taxes, right?”

Like a seasoned administrator, Archduke Wazir was able to find an excuse to raise taxes in Otto’s proposal.

It was a pretty good revenue model, if the fees were cheaper than those of the Labor Guild, and the revenue would flow back into the treasury.

“Right? Instead of managing it ourselves, we collect taxes. Workers can use the facilities at a low cost, it’s safe, and we collect taxes. It’s a win-win, isn’t it?”

“Hahaha, that’s great, let’s try it out in our home country first, and if it goes well, we can roll it out to other countries and earn some foreign currency.”

“Ooooh!”

It’s always a good idea.

“So, shall we do it?”

“If the king says he will, what can I, a mere administrative official, do about it?”

“Hahaha….”

“I heard that you’ve been doing big things outside, so you’ll have a very big budget, right? You’ve earned about 10 years of the kingdom’s budget all at once”

“Yeah, I kind of scrape by with some outside money.”

“Hahaha, so this is the kind of guy who wants to prepare for a world war, hahaha!”

“Alright, I suppose we’ll go from there, then.”

“‘Course.”

Shortly after meeting Archduke Wazir for the first time in a long time.

*Ding!*

A notification popped up in front of him.

[Notification: The internal affairs rating has been elevated!]

[Notification: The performance of the Kingdom of Lota’s administrative officials has increased by 20%!]

Thanks to his determination to come up with new policies and implement them, the stagnant internal affairs stats increased and all political units were strengthened.

However,

‘What?’

Otto thought something was wrong with the notification that popped up in front of him.

Your Rating has risen!]

[Notification: Kingdom of Lota Administrative officials’ performance.

When he looked again, the notification was missing parts of it, as if it had been wiped away with an eraser.

The text was also faint, as if something had turned it translucent.

‘What? What’s going on with the notification window? Is something wrong with the system?’

Otto tried bringing up the notification window again several times, but the results were the same.

The system itself seemed to be fading away, as if it were at the end of its life.

‘What’s going on?’

After fiddling with the system for a while, he finally gave up, unable to find the source of the problem.

‘I’ve never seen anything like this before….’

He felt uneasy about this.

The system was a kind of guarantee that Otto was not from this world, but a gamer named, Kim Do-jin.

But the fact that it was broken was not something to be taken lightly.

‘I can’t do this. I should go ask Old Man Quran.’

On reflection, it turns out that Quran is a good candidate to consult.

Dragons are very wise beings, and after all, they’ve lived for so many years, they must have a lot of experience.

In addition, he had heard about the dragon’s eye from Alphondal, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go and talk to Quran.

“Do you happen to know where Old Man Quran is?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I believe he is dining with the Head Maid Olive.”

“Thank you.”

Olive, the Head Maid, was responsible for taking care of Quran, the oldest person in the Kingdom.

This was because Otto couldn’t take care of him 24/7.

“…Ha.”

But when he saw Elder Quran’s condition, the idea of asking for advice quickly disappeared.

“What? You say that I’m a dragon? Ugh. Not this again. Come now, let’s just eat. Finish up eating. We can talk about being a dragon later.”

Apparently suffering from another case of dementia, Quran stared blankly up at the sky, eating the porridge Olive was scooping up for him.

He even spilled some of the porridge onto his bib…