63 - The Prince's Offer

[Oh great God of the Internet,

Today I had the honor of being received by the royal family of Valoria. 

With reverence and humility, I showed them the greatness of your creation, the wonderful Internet you have given us. 

At first, the nobles were skeptical, especially since they had just had problems with two gods, but when they saw what the Internet could do, their interest was aroused like a flame burning in the darkness.

I introduced them to [Carrier Pigeon], [Library], and [iMonsters], and I could see the excitement in their eyes. 

They were especially excited about the knowledge they could gain and share, but most of all, they were excited about the opportunities that [iMonsters] could bring to the kingdom. 

After everything they've gone through in the recent battle, the disappearance of the God of Thunder, and the news you sent us that you had banished the God of Thunder, they are more than willing to establish the Internet as the religion of the people of Valoria in exchange for your protection.

I await your answer, from your emissary, Sidney Shields].

This was the prayer I received from one of my emissaries in Valoria.

From what he said, I was surprised that the royal family of Valoria was so willing to welcome me into their kingdom as their main religion.

But considering that they may have witnessed the battle between the God of Thunder and the God of the Mountains, it's understandable that they would want to take shelter under a more powerful god.

And considering that Sidney must have told them about the benefits, and that there were no requirements for using the Internet other than the ability to develop an iMonster with the power of an Archmage at virtually no cost, this could be an extremely powerful weapon for their kingdom.

So I just smiled and replied with a message to Sidney using the account of Athenos, who practically acted as an admin for mortals on the Internet when they needed to contact the God of the Internet.

Athenos: [Hello Sidney, the God of the Internet has informed me of the situation you're dealing with, are you with the Royal Family at the moment].

Even though I knew he was having tea with a prince, I asked out of courtesy since mortals don't know I can spy on them.

Sidney: [Hello Lord Athenos, yes, I'm having tea with Prince Christopher right now].

Athenos: [Very well, I'll call you and you click to accept, okay?]

Before Sidney could answer, I simply connected us over the Internet and sent him the call.

Sidney was confused, but quickly clicked to accept the call as I suggested.

"Hello Sidney, hello Prince Christopher, I am Athenos, the emissary of the God of the Internet." I said in a quiet, polite tone.

From what I could see of the two men, they were shocked as they looked around for the source of the voice.

"Lord Athenos, where are you?" Sidney asked as he searched for me.

"I'm in Arcantor, Sidney, but with the new feature the Internet God is developing for the Internet, I'm sending my voice to you in real time over the Internet." I explained and both men were shocked.

Both Sidney was shocked by this new feature, which he never thought would exist, as real time messaging on the Internet was already extremely revolutionary.

Just as Christopher was shocked to realize that the Internet might be much more useful than he had first imagined.

"I see, Lord Athenos, this new feature is amazing!" Sidney said respectfully.

Even though he was the young son of a small baron, Sidney was quite humble because of the sales work he did with the family's trading caravan.

"Hello Lord Athenos, Sidney explained to me that you are the emissary of the God of the Internet, I am Christopher Mountward, the second prince of the Kingdom of Valoria. The young man having tea with Sidney introduced himself elegantly.

"Hello Prince Christopher, it's a pleasure to meet you, Sidney told me about your interest in making the Internet the official religion of Valoria, is that true?" I asked politely.

"Yes, the battle between the God of Mountains and the God of Thunder was devastating for Valoria, and tens of thousands of people in the kingdom's capital were killed by the attacks of the two gods. Right now, we just want peace and quiet for the kingdom, and I believe that taking refuge under the god who defeated the god of thunder is the right choice," Christopher said. Christopher said politely.

I knew that what he said was partly true, but I noticed an inconsistency in it.

"Right, I see your point. Currently in the mortal world, the God of the Internet is actually the most powerful God among the Gods of the other realms, so your choice is understandable. But I think Your Majesty already knows that there are thousands of Internet God worshippers in Valoria, right? And to determine a national policy, I believe only the king can decree, what does the second prince want to achieve with this contact of ours?" I asked.

Knowing how the nobility played games in the mortal world, I was curious to know Christopher's intentions and ambitions.

Realizing that I could see right through him, Christopher raised his hands in surrender, unaware that I theoretically couldn't see him, and replied with a smile. "Yes, Lord Athenos, theoretically, as second prince, I can't do anything to actually approve something that all the nobles of the kingdom would have to comply with immediately."

He continued. "But after the battle, my noble father, the King of Valoria, was traumatized by the power of the gods and is so afraid of divine power that I believe he didn't want to accept any new gods into the kingdom, and my older brother, being a blind follower of his, would also follow my father's wishes without considering what would be the best decision for the kingdom."

Hearing this, I began to laugh, realizing where this conversation would lead. "So you intend to borrow the power of the God of the Internet to help you eliminate your father and brother and make yourself the next king of Valoria?"

Christopher pretended to feel guilty as he lowered his head and answered with a sad tone. "Unfortunately yes, Lord Athenos, if my noble father finds out that another god has come to Valoria, it is possible that he even wants to ban the use of the internet for the population, which could lead to a negative reaction from the god of the internet and a possible war with more losses and deaths for the population of Valoria..."

Listening to his explanation, I had to admit that this prince was clever.

If the King of Valoria really tried to stop me from spreading the Internet in his kingdom, I would deal with him just like I had with the King of Eldoria.

Even though I saw them as real people who had theoretically done nothing wrong, all the years of education and indoctrination that Adrian's memories of that world had given me made this attitude much easier for me.

Even more, knowing that the outcome of this test could determine how I would live in the future made it even less difficult for me to make such a decision.

Sure, it wasn't easy to decide to kill a family, but after using the dragon to wipe out Eldoria's royal family, it would be even less difficult for me to do it again.

Not to mention that I could use the Internet to try to find out the dirt on the royal family, which would hardly be free of any of the filth that nobles of this era get up to, which might make it even easier for me to make such a decision.

So the Prince of Valoria was right to act as he did and try to save his life.

"You are clever, Prince Christopher, and I like that about you. It is much easier to deal with a clever king like you than with a foolish one. What would your proposal be for us to work together?" I asked interestedly.

Smiling, Christopher began to explain his plan. "According to Sidney's explanation, the iMonsters can be summoned at any time, right? As long as the God of the Internet lends me an iMonster powerful enough to easily kill my father and brother, I promise to pay back the value of that iMonster with interest in the future by encouraging the people of Valoria to pray even more to the God of the Internet."

Upon hearing this, I had to consider a few points.

Making an iMonster that could kill two people wasn't too difficult, especially considering that the Crown Prince was an Elite Knight, while the King, who was already getting old, had at most the strength of a squire, so as long as I lent an iMonster with the strength of an Arcane Mage for a few hours, or even the strength of a Master Mage to ensure the success of the mission, it could be handled.

And with future interest payments, it wasn't as attractive as having the kingdom's population pray to me a few days ahead of schedule, because the profit I would get from that would be very good.

Considering that the cost of Divine Power to create an iMonster with a Master Mage's power that would last for one hour was only about 100k Divine Power points, this deal was extremely lucrative for me.

I would only spend about 100,000 Divine Power Points and I would receive the prayers of at least another 350,000 people several times a day, several days in advance, if I were to spread the Internet throughout the kingdom on my own.

Not to mention having to deal with the King trying to block me, which would be very annoying.

"Very well, Prince Christopher, you have a deal." I smiled as I answered him. "You can pray to the God of the Internet and check your iMonster app, a surprise awaits you there."

Hearing this, both Christopher and Sidney were curious what would happen, so Christopher quickly learned the prayer from Sidney and opened his internet to check what he had received.

He had difficulty using the Internet at first, but with Sidney's help he was able to open it quickly. 

When he looked at the screen that appeared, he saw the green Lv20 squirrel holding a wooden katana with a 60-minute timer next to it, indicating that he would have access to this iMonster for 60 minutes as long as he summoned it into the real world.

Christopher was confused as to what this meant, but Sidney was shocked by one thing.

He had also chosen the green squirrel as his personal iMonster, but for some reason the green squirrel on Christopher's screen was bigger and more intimidating than the squirrel he had in his app!