Blacksmith vs. the System 303

I expected a lot of problems when it came to the ambush. A dangerous confrontation with the bodyguards, a double-bluff that led me to a dangerous battle, or even a counterattack to a dangerous location when I was busy with the attack.

Yet, none of that happened. I stayed under a tight, controlled ward while the ambassador ran fast, his bodyguards left behind a few miles. All that was needed was to trigger a bunch of buried mana bombs, one that had been purchased from the market, and lead the ambassador under the ward, an illusion spell creating the vision of a duplicate. I was happy with the flawless success.

The ambassador was not.

“I … impressive work, Your Majesty,” he said, still gasping after the exertion that had pushed his body to the limits. Escaping from his bodyguards hadn’t been easy.

“I pride myself on perfection,” I responded, acting unaware of his frustration. His desire to spark a war between us and the guilds was obvious.

“Naturally. No one but a perfectionist could have built such a fascinating city from scratch, not in a world filled with monsters,” he said, his gaze firmly on the guards. “Hopefully, the guards hadn’t seen anything. Things would go badly if they suspected us of cooperating.”

The flicker of his Charisma, trying to fuel my panic. That alone was enough to confront him, but I did not. I wanted to see if he had any other plans. Also, to see if he had any other tricks of Charisma.

There was a risk that I couldn’t block it all, but it was a good way to start interrogating him.

“Don’t worry about your life, ambassador. You’re safe here. They wouldn’t have been chasing the illusion if they thought I was involved with you, hiding in the swamp.”

“I don’t fear for my life, Your Majesty,” he responded, his tone more smarmy than sincere, but that might be my prejudices speaking. “My life already belongs to you.”

“Lives belong to their owners,” I said. “Your loyalty belongs to your lord, or did I misunderstand the nature of my assistance.”

He tried to smile, but it came across a grimace. “Of course my loyalty is to my lord,” he whispered. “I just wanted to show my admiration to your decisive dominion, as well as your bravery, accepting the risk of a war just to maintain your integrity.”

“Oh, war?” I muttered, looking startled. “Didn’t you escape perfectly? Maybe I should consider giving you back.”

His panic was amusing. “I — It’s just a precaution, nothing more, Your Majesty. It’ll be prudent.”

“I don’t kill honest warriors for prudence,” I replied.

“They are not honest warriors. They have failed in their oath. Twice. Once by refusing the call of their city lord, and twice by massacring the peasants who they were supposed to defend.”

A good attempt. The second one, in particular would have made me act if there was any chance of my believing it to be true. His panicked delivery made it obvious that it was a lie, along with the panicked pressure from his Charisma, risking discovery.

Well, discovery from his perspective. He had no idea his tricks were completely useless. Maybe it was arrogance, but he seemed to believe my declaration about the previous spy using a spell rather than Charisma.

“That’s a serious crime,” I declared loudly, trusting the ward to hide us. He looked excited. “However, I’m a king now. I can’t execute foreign dignitaries for every crime. Not when it would lead to more innocents dying.”

I let the sentence sit between us like bait on a hook. “Your Majesty… As their superior officer, I promise that no fault will fall on you. I’ll take responsibility.”

This time, I didn’t hide my chuckle. “They will believe you killed your bodyguards alone, when they believed them to be strong enough to keep you under control?”

His smile thinned. “They will … might. But the alternative is worse. They will speak, and we will be compromised.”

I hummed in fake indecision, not missing that risks slowly turned into certainties as he spoke. “I don’t appreciate the blunt manipulations, ambassador,” I said, and gestured toward his bodyguards. “You’re free to walk out if you don’t like what I’m offering you.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I might have acted unbecoming of my position. Please forgive me.”

I might have, if that declaration hadn’t been followed by two things. A magical message flared from him, and his Charisma slowly gathered. The former attemp, the ward blocked.

The latter might have been trickier in a different location. I didn’t want to kill him, and I had not experimented with Charisma conflicting with another to block. Luckily, this close to the dungeon, I had other options.

Like a gate opening behind him, followed by a kick at the center of his chest, far too quick for him to react before I followed, and the gate closed behind him. “Y-Your Majesty —” he tried to argue, trying to understand what was going on.

I decided not to give him the opportunity. A mental touch to my newest skill, and a presence collapsed over him, suffocating him with the full power of my Charisma. I did, as the last trick he tried to pull removed whatever that was left of my forbearance toward him.

[Sovereign Dominion (Legendary) 9 ->37]

[Perk Options — Unmatched Presence / Interrogation / Protective Aura ]

“I … you … how?” he stammered, collapsing under the pressure. I could feel his own Charisma trying to counter it, but it splashed helplessly, too weak for me to even get a measure of it. While he tried to finish his words, I picked Protective Aura as a perk, no matter how tempting Interrogation actually was.

Even the bastardized dungeon creatures came with a fear aura, and I wanted to be prepared once the real deal arrived.

Only then, I turned my attention to him. I could have revealed my own status as a king, but the details I had gotten from Jaiella, or as he wanted to be called, Joey, told me that it was information that was a touch too explosive. Luckily, there was an easier lie, especially one targeting such a tricky character.

“Oh, did you really believe that a Blacksmith can build a city alone? Are you that naive?” I mocked. In any other situation, he might have had trouble believing, I knew from firsthand that Charisma could be disorienting even when it wasn’t a full two thousand points, channeled through a Legendary Skill.

Then, there was the sheer fact that I had such an overwhelming Charisma was enough to patch the holes in my story.

“But … the weapons…”

I laughed. “External skills to put on a show, while real blacksmiths work behind. Are you telling me you weren’t able to solve something that obvious?” I shrugged. “But then, it must be me. Otherwise, how could you be daring enough to try to manipulate with Charisma. Again and again.”

His eyes widened at the realization that every single manipulation he used on me had been caught. People had been killed for less. His face blanched, accepting death.

“Conveniently,” I added, weakening the pressure only when the fear of death sank in. “I have far bigger plans to care about your little pathetic city and your city lord,” I added. Even with the overwhelming Charisma, I didn’t expect to break his loyalty to his City Lord, but convincing him that I had a different target should be possible.

Ironically, that was the truth as well, but in our position, it didn’t matter.

“I … is it the truth?” he asked helplessly.

Once again, I decided to take refuge in audacity. “How strong my Charisma is, worm?

“A-at least four hundred points,” he stammered, wildly underestimating it.

I let that misunderstanding stand. ”Do you think my Emperor had assigned me to this pathetic planet just to deal with a mere city? No, my eyes are … on the Horizon.”

He stiffened. “Impossible. We have confirmed it. You’re a native.”

I chuckled. “Yes, a native. One that lived in a pathetic little town for three years with absolutely nothing to his name, then suddenly exploding into action and accidentally building a city out of a bunch of discarded Farmers.”

There was no mistaking the relief blooming in his gaze. “I … do you promise that you’re not targeting my lord. Your Majesty?”

“I don’t have to promise anything, you little worm. What you need to ask is whether you can convince your lord to follow my plans once I eventually let you go.” An implicit promise, one that I might even follow despite my initial plans to kill him.

He was not a mage, and at this point, I was confident that I could create an impenetrable prison in one of the dungeons. As much as I didn’t want to reveal my Charisma, I knew I would at one point, and a spy whispering that I was not a Blacksmith but a natural noble class with Charisma might come in useful.

And, until then, he was someone I could question about the group that I saw as my biggest enemy, the entity that didn’t bother to warn the world about the disaster even if they hadn’t caused it, even going as far as to keep the people docile. They were my enemy, even if they were utterly unaware of my presence.

The Horizon Institute.