The Goal is to be Self-made - Chapter 8

“I’m Tallinn.”

“I’m Jen.”

Two people standing in front of her gave a deep bow. They were the knights that the Grand Duke assigned to take her wherever she wanted.

Tallinn was a female knight with neatly bob-cut hair.

She had slightly tanned skin and red hair, so Violet could feel the beauty of power and strength from her appearance.

The person was so upright and disciplined that she wondered if a specimen of a knight would look like that.

Jen, with his shiny blonde hair and green eyes, had a more amiable impression compared to her.

She would not have believed that he was a knight if it wasn’t for the sword he was wearing around his waist.

Both were dressed in black uniforms neatly adorned with silver thread.

“Are the knights always dressed like this?”

As she asked out of her curiosity, Tallinn smiled softly and shook her head.

“In the Grand Duchy, I wear comfortable clothes, but in the capital city, I live in conquest. The Black Wolf is our pride.”

At that, Tallinn proudly pointed to the wolf symbol embroidered with silver thread on her left chest.

Ah, come to think of it, it’s true that the Knights of Etzel Duchy are called the Black Wolf.

Because the crest of Etzel Duchy itself was the black wolf.

Similarly, the  Imperial Knights were named the Golden Lion, and the Knights of the Basel Duchy were called the Silver Hawk.

They were the Arnold Empire’s third generation of knights.

The three knights’ orders were very competitive and they prided themselves on being the best in the empire. But rumours had it that the Black Wolf was the best of the three.

Unlike the other two knights’ orders, which were based in the capital city, the Black Wolf Knights were located in the east and had a sense of mystery to them.

“As Etzel’s Black Wolves, it is an honour to escort madam to the Grand Duchy.”

“Madam?”

As her eyes widened with surprise at the unexpected way of addressing, Jen just shrugged with a smile that made her feel burdened.

“You’re going to marry our captain soon, so it is natural to call you madam.”

“That’s true, but…?”

“Thank you so much for saving our poor Captain. We thought he would live in solitude for the rest of his life. But luckily, he suddenly met his fated partner in the capital.”

“I apologise. This guy is the talkative type.”

Tallinn smacked Jen in the back of his head, as she cut him off and apologised to her.

But to Violet, his words were quite useful.

Because thanks to that, she could tell that the knights who trusted and followed him had yet been told about their deal.

I said he could send a watcher after me, but who would have thought he’d send real escort knights.

They seemed to think that Sheldrick had fallen in love with her so madly that he even risked a confrontation with the Emperor.

I guess that’s why these people are so excited.

Not only Jen, whose face revealed that fact, but also Tallinn, who though looked serious, still had the corners of her lips raised subtly.

Well, the fewer people know, the better.

And so she was self-convinced and tried to ignore the eyes of the two, which were sparkling with interest.

“I’m Violet. The title ‘Madam’ is a little awkward, so you can just call me by my name.”

“Then, Violet.”

Tallinn grinned and lowered her head. Again, it was a disciplined and well-mannered act.

“I have been told there is a place you must visit.”

“Yes. It’s called Pallerus, a small town on the outskirts of the capital, do you know it?”

“Pallerus?”

Jen, who had been disgruntledly stroking the back of his head after being hit by Tallinn, stepped in.

“Isn’t that the city of the dead counsel?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

According to the setting of <The One Who Wears the Crown>, there was a great advisor by the side of the king who founded the Arnold Empire.

The advisor recognised that the king was a gifted monarch and gave him various advice so that he could become a great ruler.

Thanks to this, the Arnold Empire was able to enjoy a long period of peace after its founding.

The advisor lived a long time and left excellent advice to the three generations of emperors.

He gave advices about the empire’s affairs until the moment of his death and left a strange prophecy before his last breath.

“One day my successor will appear and find the true emperor!”

People built a city where he used to live, waiting for the fulfillment of the deceased advisor’s prophecy.

That place was called Pallerus.

In the ancient language, it meant ‘deceased advisor’.

The successor in the prophecy left by that advisor is the player of <The One Who Wears the Crown>.

The reason she must go to Pallerus was that she could get useful items there.

Particularly, the Skill Book!

❈❈❈

The most important thing in <The One Who Wears the Crown> was all about the scheme.

But just figuring out how to trap your opponent did not mean things would go well.

The reality of the Arnold Empire was not very different from Korea where she used to live, so she needed money whenever she did anything.

Of course, it costs money not only to buy things necessary for the operations, but also when conciliating or hiring people.

It seems to be an eternal truth that money is important wherever you go.

On that account, <The One Who Wears the Crown> gave players special abilities so that they could earn money.

That’s the Game Skills.

If the player learned the skill, they could master useful abilities to make money.

The most useful skill was crafting or collecting.

If the crafting skill was acquired, one could analyse the items to obtain a design plan, then make a product based on it and set up a business.

Another skill, collecting, was literally the ability to acquire various items scattered around the world.

In the beginning, only trivial things could be collected, but as the skill level increased, valuable things such as ancient artifacts and diamonds could also be excavated.

To learn these skills, one would need a ‘Skill Book’, and the place to get it was the World Library in Pallerus.

“So now, are you here to find a book?”

Standing in front of the huge library true to its name, Jen spoke up, his face filled with disbelief and absurdity.

The library was her must-visit place on the way to the Grand Duchy. It was something that would certainly seem strange to those who did not know her circumstances.

“Yes. Would you like to come in?”

When she turned to ask the two knights, different answers came out of their mouths.

“Yes.” / “No.”

Tallinn, who agreed with her, shoot a glare at Jen, and he shrugged, avoiding Tallinn’s eyes.

“Because I hate books.”

The annoyed Tallinn was about to retort to Jen when she found Violet watching, and immediately shut her mouth.

It seemed like she did not want to show their bickering in front of her.

“Then I shall go in with Tallinn. It feels weird to go in a library packed with this many books anyway.”

“You are indeed really wise.”

Tallinn, standing behind her, spared a glare at Jen as he sighed in relief as if he was saved. Before long, she said.

“Miss Violet, let us go inside.”

❈❈❈

The World Library was an open space for everyone.

However, she must be the only person in this world who knew that they could get a ‘Skill Book’ here.

She moved to a familiar location where the Skill Book might be.

As they passed through the hallway and reached the end of it, a quiet library that no one had been visiting appeared.

As she entered, a strangely cool source of energy enveloped her body.

Tallinn, following her, stopped at the entrance.

“Tallinn?”

“I’m sorry. My head strangely hurts…”

She had a frown on her face as if she found it hard to understand her condition.

Perhaps there was a device that made non-players feel repulsed so as to prevent them from entering this place.

“Wait here then. You don’t have to come in.”

“…I apologise.”

As Tallinn grabbed her head and took a step back, Violet scanned through the library full of books.

There were a total of three skills a player could possess in the system.

The last one was <Observation Skill>.

It was a skill that could confirm information about objects or people.

If you focus on the object you want to check information on…?

Tallinn.

[Occupation] Knight (Etzel Duchy, member of the Black Wolf Knights)

[Speciality] Entering an unauthorized space, temporarily falling into a state of helplessness.

She was able to see information like this.

Occasionally, there was information that appeared with a question mark, but most could be identified in this way.

This <Observation Skill> was a skill she had from the beginning of the game, it was basically defaulted, so she could not choose whether to have it or not.

Hence, there were only two skills were optional to the player.

Since the <Observation Skill> did not work on the Skill Book, one would have no choice but to randomly pick from among these many books.

However, after repeating the game several times, she knew exactly where the Skill Book was.

Of course, the skills she would choose were both collecting and crafting, which were advantageous for making money.

From her experience with multiple iterations of the game, those two were the most useful.

The location of the collecting skill is here.

After judging the location, she took out the book.

As she flipped through the thick book with no title written on it, a soft blue light rose from the pages, and a guide window appeared before her eyes.

[!] You have acquired the Collecting Skill (Normal).

[!] Due to the ‘Deceased Advisor’ effect, the collecting skill is raised to Legendary level, which is a hidden level.

Huh? Deceased Advisor? Hidden level?

It was a guide she had never seen nor had she ever thought of.