The reward for Hidden Quest: Find the King’s Royal Seal had been listed as ???.

When the Overlord and Purung left the nation of Hyun while it was still ???, Hyunsoo had immediately run to Nell and asked:

“Nell, can they just run off with my reward?”

Nell had answered calmly.

“They can. Especially Named NPCs. At times, they possess enough power to ignore a user’s protest, and because their freedom is so high, the more important the Named NPC is, the more the system permits it.”

In short, the ones with power were worse.

A little later—

[The hidden reward is revealed.]

At the sight of Purung and the filthy citizens standing behind him, Hyunsoo’s chest was seized by an indescribable heat.

[You obtain the king’s royal seal.]

[You have become the new master of Bardrei, the country once led by the Overlord.]

[Much of Bardrei had fallen into ruin.]

[Its population had plummeted, and countless citizens had left.]

[However, quite a few who had waited for the Overlord remained behind, allowing the Kingdom of Bardrei to endure.]

[They had been waiting for a new king.]

DING!

[You are the owner of the king’s royal seal.]

[Ironclad Captain Purung pledges his loyalty to you.]

[He will offer even his life for you!]

His chest burned hot and swelled with excitement.

The people standing before Hyunsoo.

[You have become the new master of 543,105 citizens.]

[The level of the soldiers is far above the ordinary standard.]

[For reference, they will be compared to those under your command.]

[They are on par with the members of the Gale Corps.]

What...?

Hyunsoo fell into considerable shock.

The Gale Corps.

They were still the strongest among his soldiers.

They were the pinnacle of soldiery, men who still bore the name of soldier yet could fight evenly with most knights.

And these people were on that level?

And on top of that—

[The level of the citizens is far above the ordinary standard.]

[They are on par with the soldiers under your command.]

......What?

Hyunsoo was flustered.

Citizens meant everyone.

Women, children, old people, young people.

No, what kind of ridiculous nonsense is that?

It made no sense whatsoever.

How could ordinary citizens possibly be on par with soldiers trained by Luxiu, Borne, Bella, and the others?

But then—

“So that gentleman is our new Overlord?”

An old man came into view.

If he walked into a gym, he would have looked like an old man who had done nothing but work out for thirty years straight. His deltoids and biceps were the size of Hyunsoo’s head.

And worse—

“That man is our new king!?”

A young boy spoke.

The boy too was packed with muscle, and he stood a full 186 centimeters tall.

Now that they had just become his citizens, Hyunsoo could check their detailed information.

He looks about eighteen— no, what do you mean he’s nine years old!?

He was nine, yet he looked strong enough to beat a bull to death.

If he arm-wrestled Hyunsoo, Hyunsoo felt like he would lose one hundred percent of the time.

At least the women looked somewhat reasonable.

No, then how are they matching my soldiers with bodies like that?

Just then—

an old grandmother stepped forward.

“My, my, so you’re our new Overlord?”

The grandmother was holding a mace.

“......”

Because Hyunsoo was a blacksmith, he could tell.

The black mace was rusted in certain places, the kind of rust left by failing to properly clean off blood.

And the women too all had weapons of their own—swords at their waists, bows slung across their backs.

One little girl was even standing there holding a hand axe.

Ah... so that’s why the Tyrant invaded and then ran away...

Ninety percent of the men were like Italians, with average heights pushing 185 centimeters, and every woman wore a weapon.

In an instant, 540,000 citizens.

No... 540,000 soldiers.

Hyunsoo was delighted to have gained them.

But he was already being confronted by the side effects.

[Your Affinity with your new citizens is very low.]

[It would not be strange if they left at any time.]

*****

Of course the Affinity between the citizens of the Kingdom of Bardrei and Hyunsoo was low.

Even if Purung had brought them here—

they were beings who had waited for the strongest ruler remembered in legend for ages: the Overlord.

Because it was said that no king had ever been stronger than the Overlord.

And when those very people actually met the Overlord, it had felt as though they could scarcely breathe.

The Overlord’s level was well above 600, and the charisma he had built up over so many years was five times Hyunsoo’s.

The moment they first saw the Overlord, everyone present had been overwhelmed.

By contrast—

when they followed Purung and came face-to-face with Hyunsoo, they were disappointed.

As they entered the kingdom, they spoke among themselves.

“I question Ironclad Captain Purung’s judgment. How could he possibly see someone like that as the one who will succeed the Overlord...?”

“Did you see him? He looks smaller than my wife, and less muscular too.”

“And he’s far too young. How much time could a child like that possibly have spent on the battlefield?”

For them, this was the moment they had waited for through centuries.

Meeting the new king was, for them, bitterly disappointing.

As their representative, their elder, and their spiritual pillar, old Andallo spoke.

“Let us leave. If this kingdom does not suit us. We have spent centuries waiting, clinging to the name of the Overlord. If this country cannot satisfy those expectations, what reason do we have to remain?”

That was true.

Those who had once served the Overlord had all belonged to the past.

If the Overlord they had heard of and longed for had stood before them in person, they would have been ready to serve him at once.

But—

“I have visited hundreds of kingdoms. Ironclad Captain Purung was not the only one searching for a new king!”

That was why Andallo knew.

“I have ears as well. This is a newborn nation founded not long ago. It will not be able to protect us, and it will never shine like the glory of the past!”

At Andallo’s words, spoken as one who had visited hundreds of kingdoms, they all nodded.

And of all of them, Andallo’s disappointment seemed especially deep.

It could not have been otherwise.

Andallo.

He was a special figure.

His family had been a line of herb gatherers for generations.

They had only ever been an unusually gifted family of herb gatherers, but Andallo was something more.

For the king who would return.

For the man he would someday meet again, Andallo had challenged something no herb gatherer had ever dared challenge before.

He had set out in search of the legendary miracle medicine spoken of in Ares.

That had happened in Andallo’s youth.

In those young days, Andallo had staked even his life on the pursuit, all for the sake of the king who would one day return.

And at last, he had found it.

A miracle medicine unlike anything anyone else in Ares could obtain.

But the Overlord had abandoned them, and the new king had failed their hopes.

All Andallo had left now was the name Legendary Herbalist.

That was right.

Andallo was a Legendary Herbalist.

But because he was bound to a production class, he was not as famous as other Legends.

In other words, he was an obscure Legend, though the quality of his potential was extraordinary.

“If I truly decide to leave, then I’d rather take you all with me, offer this to some other king, and ask him to take us in.”

If there was a powerful kingdom, that would be the better option.

Especially because—

“I’ve never even heard of the nation of Hyun.”

The continent where they had lived lay at the opposite end of the world from the nation of Hyun.

“You’re right.”

“We will follow the elder’s words completely.”

“After we have seen the kingdom, if there is no hope, let us return!”

The truth was, their hearts were already full of the desire to leave.

How could they possibly live in the country of a foreigner led by a twenty-one-year-old, when the one they had waited for was the Overlord himself?

It was just as they all came flooding into the kingdom—

a woman approached them.

“I’m Nell. I’ll be guiding you.”

“Oh? You must be the chancellor.”

“Yes. I imagine you have many questions, so I’ll show you around.”

As they walked with her and looked around, their honest assessment was simple.

This is far inferior to the country once led by the Overlord.

What kind of kingdom even is this?

In truth, the nation of Hyun had not yet been fully organized.

And so the size of Atlas, the capital, was still only about one-third that of an ordinary kingdom.

Meanwhile—

Nell concealed the slyness in her heart as she led them onward.

To that place.

The Turtle Ship, which also housed Hyun’s Museum.

“This is the best place to understand His Majesty. Please, go in and take a look.”

At that, Andallo and the citizens following him sighed.

The reason they had admired the Overlord was his peerless strength.

How can the king of this nation take such an interest in mere works of art?

But the moment Andallo and the others entered, their expressions began changing by the second.

The quality of the paintings was astonishing.

And what they had believed to be mere artwork was, in fact, displaying the exploits of Hyun.

Then—

Andallo was startled.

On one side stood a painting.

It showed the king of this country facing the Great Archdemon Gremory, holding the White Tiger Sword with its harmoniously pale white blade.

Why is a painting like that standing here?

Even they had heard stories carried across distant continents.

The tale of a single man butchering a Great Archdemon and granting it eternal annihilation.

“Surely this king isn’t...?”

Andallo’s eyes nearly rolled back in shock.

Then Andallo moved onward and was rendered speechless by the enormous scene spread before him.

A vast blue sea.

Hundreds of ships charging forward.

And blocking them—

a single ship.

That ship was...

“The exhibition hall...?”

It was the very place in which they were standing.

A pregnant woman—the guide of this exhibition hall, Pans’s Wife—said:

“I still had one ship left...”

“......What are you talking about?”

When the new citizens and Andallo asked, the woman smiled.

“Before he became king, His Majesty was a single general of the country of Goyad. Those were the words he spoke before building that ship and going alone to destroy hundreds of enemy vessels in order to save Goyad.”

Andallo’s voice trembled.

“How could... a single human being... not have been afraid?”

“......He was afraid.”

“Then how?”

“Because he had to protect them.”

“......!!”

“That day, he defeated hundreds of ships and was recorded as a minor hero. Using that as his foothold, he eventually became king, as you see now.”

It was a story that defied belief, even as they stood looking at it.

Then, as he moved farther inside, Andallo stopped before another painting.

“This is a newly opened exhibit, and it is the painting His Majesty loves most.”

When Andallo saw it, he stood staring at it for a long while.

What was there in that picture, one that might have looked ordinary at first glance?

As mentioned before, Andallo had traveled through hundreds of countries, and so he knew the faces of many figures.

At the very center of the painting—

Hyunsoo, the king, was smiling brightly, holding a fork and knife.

To his right sat a powerfully built man, cutting meat and placing it on Hyunsoo’s plate.

An old man known as Azure Heaven was smiling gently as he looked at Hyunsoo.

And not far from them—

the absolute sovereign they themselves had seen.

Even the Overlord sat there, smiling as he ate with them.

“......His wish?”

Was this the wish of the king of this country?

To dine together with figures like these?

At that, the guide said:

“It’s reality.”

Andallo was amazed.

The painting’s title was Dear Friends.

Andallo learned the name of that painting.

Dear Friends.

It was a name that stirred something in him for no reason at all, yet behind it he felt something extraordinary.

Because the people with him...

not one of them was ordinary.

And then, at last, Andallo stopped before the final painting.

As Andallo gazed at it, and as the citizens who kept following him farther into the exhibition hall did the same, they all felt some indescribable emotion before that final picture.

The last painting.

It was so enormous that it covered an entire wall.

“A nameless painter came after His Majesty became king and painted it for him.”

Andallo stared at it for a long time.

A massive throne.

And seated upon it was a single man.

Half his body was covered in scars, while the other half was clad in armor.

One eye, on the half-burned face covered in scars, looked sorrowful.

The eye on the armored side burned as though it might ignite the world.

It was a strange, astonishing portrait of a king seated with both hands resting properly upon his thighs.

“We deliberately didn’t write its name down. Because I, the guide, wanted to tell you its name myself.”

As Andallo stood there, entranced, the guide’s voice reached his ears.

“What is the name of this painting?”

As Andallo listened intently, the woman answered:

“The King Who Wanted to Live.”

Andallo was overcome with awe.