Chapter 401: All Evil (2/2)
***
The soil gathered and solidified, looking as smooth as marble, and a new building was completed. Rumi clapped his hands as if he was a child watching a circus show, making Arthur feel like a showman or a freak.
”Marvelous! I wish that I had ten more of you, and the city would be built in a matter of a month,” the architect looked at his designs. They were building the residential houses of the city, and Arthur needed to finish this district before he goes to Aquamia.
”That might not be far,” Arthur said as he looked at his legacy, telling him that he obtained a new rune. For the first time, he received a rune by using a skill too much.
[Earth-I: significant manipulation of earth and soil and a mild manipulation of a few metals. The mana cost of this rune can classify it as an affinity.]
'I can now delegate this job to someone else,' Arthur realized as he walked out of the house. 'However, it would be too suspicious for someone else to have the same 'skill' as I am,' this was the only problem.
If word got out that he could grant skills or abilities, even Solomon would point his blade at Arthur. But, of course, he couldn't blame them, as this ability of his was abnormal.
Arthur knew that he wasn't making the most of his abilities. The simple fact he could grant powers to people could turn a few farmers into a powerful army, not to mention he could boost their stats as well.
'If I truly wished for it, isn't world domination an easy thing?'
Despite thinking as such, Arthur had no plans to attempt such a thing. There were powerful awakeners who could flatten him and his armies with a slap, and the Duke of Battle might be one of them.
He could only use the fact that they don't see him as a threat as a chance to grow stronger. That's why before they leave Hidden City tomorrow, Arthur planned on hunting the rest of the monsters within his walls.
He left the construction crew led by Rumi and visited the Knight of Courage, giving her the artificial artifacts that detected monsters nearby.
”The Ghost Runemaster is a treasure we need to protect at all costs,” the knight muttered with shock under Arthur's smiling eyes.
”Make sure that you do,” he said before looking at the office packed with workers and countless stacks of papers. ”I'm glad you are working hard,”
”You gave me the hardest job, after all,” the knight grumbled smilingly. ”Despite being a knight, I don't quite hate the office work. These are different kinds of challenges.”
”I can find someone else to take your place, and you can be my guard.”
”That would be more torturous than this, and I would have to make sure you don't turn people headless,” the knight said jokingly, and Arthur could only shake his head.
”Ah, a tragedy,” he began. ”What has the mundane life done to bewitch the protector of the people? Your job was to keep my claws of evil at bay.”
”I realized that you are not the only evil,” the knight said ominously. ”We all are.”
After that, people rushed in to bring the knight more paperwork, which Arthur avoided like a plague and left the department. He found an empty spot before using his Detection Rune to find monsters, but he found something else instead.
”Ah, she was right,” Arthur muttered as he teleported to the location of the incident. ”We are all evil.”
In an alley between the houses he built, Arthur found two knights surrounding the daughter of a farmer. He used his stealth and saw the knights try to 'invite' the woman away.
'I remember someone mentioning things about entertainment,' Arthur wanted to kill the knights right there because of their aggressive attitude, but he knew that it would only incur the wrath of the rest of them. Arthur walked closer to them and teleported the knights away before apologizing to the woman.
”I'm sorry for what happened,” he bowed slightly. ”I'll make sure that such a thing would never happen in my city.”