Chapter 153: |
“Ugh.”
Prince Saladin forced himself to his feet.
“W-Where am I? Who are you?”
“This is the Fleet of the Kingdom of Lota. We have brought you to safety. My name is Camille, a knight of the Kingdom of Lota.”
Camille helped Prince Saladin to his feet and introduced himself.
“The Fleet of the Kingdom of Lota…?”
Needless to say, Prince Saladin’s reaction was exactly what everyone expected.
“By the way, are you not… Camille?”
“Do you know me?”
Surprisingly, Prince Saladin seemed to know Camille.
After all, Camille was quite well known on the continent.
It wasn’t surprising that Prince Saladin recognized him.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about old times now.”
Camille interrupted Prince Saladin.
It was clear he didn’t want to remember things from the past.
“Why am I here? I was clearly on an inspection tour of Jalalabad?”
Saladin looked around, confused.
The shock of being caught in the explosion had apparently caused a brief amnesia.
It wasn’t uncommon.
If may be long-term amnesia, but it was not uncommon on the battlefield to suffer temporary lapses of memory due to either mental or physical trauma.
*Flinch!*
For a moment, Otto’s hand rested on the poker he wore at his waist, but then he had to suppress his instinct at the fierce look in Camille’s eyes.
“Tsk.”
Otto made a face.
He was upset that he had missed a great opportunity to hit someone with the poker after so long.
That was it, then.
“I am Otto de Scuderia, King of the Kingdom of Lota. The crown prince was attacked by enemies while on a tour of Jalalabad, and has been rendered unconscious. See.”
Otto pointed to the burning Jalalabad.
“……!”
The crown prince was stunned to see the half-ruined city, which was still intact in his memory.
“W-Why is Jalalabad….”
About 10 seconds later.
“Aaaaaah.”
A mournful sigh escaped Saladin’s mouth as he finally regained his memory.
“Heuk.. Heukk.. Huhuhuhu”
A sobbing Saladin wailed.
“Sir Yusuf… Sir Hammerdin… Huhuhuh… My people… Our dynasty… Huhu… Our trading ports… Huhuhuh…”
Saladin’s state of mind was one of utter despair at the loss of Yusuf, the Knights, and his people.
“…At a time like this.”
Otto looked at Saladin and bit his lower lip.
‘This is really bad, hah.’
Otto’s feelings were just as complicated as Saladin’s.
It was natural for him to feel bad when he saw Saladin’s sadness.
Moreover, Otto was also the king of a country, so he sympathized with Saladin’s feelings even more.
But Otto couldn’t look at Saladin as he was.
‘Hah. It feels like spinning a gacha.’
Otto silently watched Saladin with unease.
There was a reason.
Saladin, one of the main characters in the game [Territory Wars], faces a major turning point right after losing Yusuf at the beginning of the game.
The scenario’s direction diverges into two extremes, encountering a sort of crossroads
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The main characters in The [Territory War] each have their own stories, ideas, convictions, and circumstances.
And then there is the corresponding main scenario.
Among the Lord characters, Saladin had a very unusual scenario.
Prince Saladin, a slightly flawed, faithful, and highly capable prince, didn’t face many challenges in his early campaign.
As befits the nature of the Caliphate, the world’s largest miner and exporter of the magic stone, Prince Saladin had a lot of money.
As such, Saladin was the perfect character to embody the Money Swag idea of solving any problem with money.
But players can’t just keep throwing money around.
As players progress through the game as Saladin, a big event occurs in the 2nd Act.
At the start of the 2nd Act, the Sultan gives Saladin, the crown prince, a quest to travel around the Caliphate.
Naturally, the player accepts the quest and travels to each of the five regions of the Caliphate.
The event then triggers.
This event, called the [Death of Yusuf], is triggered by attacks from tribes hostile to the royal family.
The problem is that this event is random.
The [Death of Yusuf] was an original event that the player had no control over, so there was no freedom.
The player doesn’t know when, where, how, or who will attack, so they’re at the mercy of the enemy.
In the process, the protagonist, Prince Saladin, loses his right-hand man, Sir Yusuf, and his knights.
What is important is what happens next.
After losing Yusuf and the Knights, the player is given a choice.
The options were as follows.
1. I will avenge Yusuf! I will use all my power to slay all the other tribesmen, and I will reign supreme through fear alone!
2. Ah! Why must our Caliphate repeat the same history of bloodshed and infighting? Hundreds of years of bloody history have now extended even to me!
If the player chooses 1, Saladin becomes a vengeful demon, becoming a powerful tyrant ruling with a reign of terror.
Alternatively, if the player chooses 2, Saladin will become a saint in the annals of history who achieves the unification of all tribes.
In other words, Saladin is an unusual character whose character and future scenario changes dramatically depending on the event that occurs in Act 2, the “Death of Yusuf”.
As such, Otto’s anxiety was understandable.
Except when playing as Saladin directly, the path he would take was completely random.
If Saladin were to turn into a vengeful tyrant…
‘Ugh.’
Otto winced, knowing all too well what a terrifying monster Saladin would become.
However, if he made the choice to be a saint and go down in annals of history…….
‘Well, that’s a whole other problem. Phew.’
Otto sighed deeply, while shaking his head.
“Aaahh.”
Saladin sobbed, tears streaming down his face.
“Why… why must we fight like this… why must we Caliphates be so obsessed with the need to kill each other… the history of blood that has been shed over the past hundreds of years has now even reached me, O Anan!”
[Anan] is the main deity worshiped in the state religion of the Caliphate.
“How long must we foolish subjects go on killing and murdering, Aaah!”
At that very moment.
‘Ah.’
Otto’s face hardened as he realized what Saladin had chosen.
Saladin’s choice was to become a saint, the kind of saint that goes down in the history books, and to unite the tribes of the Caliphate.
And the end of that scenario is…….
“Qasim.”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Do you have any cigarettes?”
“Suddenly mentioning cigarettes…”
“If you have one, give me one.”
Qasim was a non-smoker, so he borrowed a cigarette and a lighter from his subordinate, who was a smoker, and put it in Otto’s mouth.
*Click!* *Click!*
Qasim lit it up.
“Huuu….”
Otto sucked the cigarette deep into his lungs and exhaled.
Heavy plumes of smoke wafted around Otto’s face, scattering in the breeze.
“… Am I supposed to watch that with my own eyes?”
From Otto’s mouth came a soliloquy full of bitterness.
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A few hours later.
Otto had entered Jalalabad again with Saladin.
“Be vigilant around all sides and do not hesitate to strike down anyone who approaches us. There will be no exception for women, children, or the elderly. That’s an order.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The tone of Camille’s voice was frosty as that command was given.
He understood, their enemies were a warlike people who would not hesitate to commit suicide bombings.
There was no excuse to take such a foolish chance.
The last thing he needed was for King Otto to be injured.
“The Crown Prince!”
“Escort the Crown Prince!”
Just then, the Caliphate troops who had been scouring the city for Saladin surged forward.
“We greet the Crown Prince.”
The commander of the Caliphate army knelt down and bowed to Saladin.
“Your Highness, I am so glad to see you safe and sound. Are you all right?”
“I am fine.”
Saladin replied.
“Thanks to the help of His Majesty Otto de Scuderia, King of the Kingdom of Lota, and his knights here, I have managed to survive.”
“Is that so?”
The Commander’s eyes widened at Saladin’s words, and he knelt down to Otto.
*Thump!*
The remaining knights and soldiers of the Caliphate knelt down before Otto in unison.
“Thank you for saving the Crown Prince’s life! I express my gratitude on behalf of the Sultan!”
“We give you our thanks!”
Thanks to this, Otto and his men were treated with the utmost respect by the Caliphs.
There was a custom among the Caliphs called the “Custom of Hospitality,” in which guests from outside the Kingdom were treated quite exceptionally.
In addition, since Otto had rescued Prince Saladin, the crown prince, the treatment of the kingdom was more than state honor.
Unintentionally, they had established friendly diplomatic relations in their first trade.
“Why do you look at me like that?”
Camille frowned as Otto looked at him with a bemused expression.
“Did you do something?”
“What…?”
“Well, since Camille picked up Prince Saladin, we’re getting the state treatment.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Otto gave him a curt response.
“Well, I suppose it has to be useful.”
“What?”
“No, nothing.”
Otto insisted.
*Shudder*
Camille shuddered as Otto began to tease him again, but not as blatantly as before.
Neither Otto nor Camille had crossed the line, at least not in front of other people.
Of course, when they were in the company of those familiar with them, there was still the usual amount of back-and-forth that ensued.
“These are the people who saved my life, and they have come to see the Sultan, so there should be no lack of hospitality, in accordance with the customs of hospitality.”
“Yes, His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Thus, Otto and his companions became state guests of honor of Caliphate and were treated to the most extravagant hospitality.
Even meeting with the Sultan, which would normally have been difficult, was no problem.
“I will speak to the Sultan and arrange a meeting with him, and you may travel with me to the capital, Al-Salam, where I will escort you.”
“Thank you.”
Saladin recognized Otto as a benefactor of his life and a proper monarch, which is why he referred to his meeting with the sultan as a “meeting” rather than an “audience”.
There was no disrespect or belittling of Otto because he was the king of a small country.
‘This is the nature of the person, Saladin.’
Otto nodded as he recalled his characterization from the official storyline.
Saladin had been good, compassionate, and pious from a young age.
‘Hmm. Perhaps option one wasn’t a scenario designed for the player?’
Otto wonders if one of the options presented after Death of Yusuf was a thoughtful gesture on the developers’ part.
In fact, the majority of players chose option one, which is to become a vengeful demon and a tyrant, and not option two, which is to become a noble soldier and a saint.
Most players just play through the game on the easiest difficulty just to see the story.
“Dear Benefactors, you must be tired from your long voyage, so take a rest for the day. The city is a war-torn place, but now that things have calmed down, you shouldn’t have any concerns for the security of your stay, our forces will take care of you.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“Well, I’ll see you later.”
Saladin bowed slightly, then turned to leave.
Where Saladin turned and walked away.
“Mommy, Mommy, wake up, Mommy. Why are you doing this?”
A boy was clutching his mother, who had turned into a pale, lifeless corpse.
