A Fortuitous Encounter from the Game Becomes Reality Episode 5
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A Fortuitous Encounter from the Game Becomes Reality Episode 5
2. Cash Spending (2)
"What the hell are you."
When I asked in surprise, Arcia gave an utterly obvious answer.
"I am the master's supporter."
Her voice had no intonation, making her speech feel mechanical.
But that familiar way of speaking snapped my mind fully awake.
"No, who doesn't know that? That's not what I'm asking."
Arcia tilted her head in puzzlement, as if wondering what the problem was.
Frowning hard, I tapped her shoulder armor lightly as though knocking.
"I'm asking how you popped out of the game."
Arcia finally seemed to understand and nodded.
"You are curious about the method by which I maintain a physical form in Rondel."
Seeing a supporter, who is basically an NPC in the game, distinguish reality so clearly, she apparently understands her own position quite well.
"Yeah."
I sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting for the explanation to continue.
Arcia, who had been staring straight at me, continued in a calm tone.
"I am a homunculus. My creator is Manuel Lucas, and my appearance and combat traits were determined as Arcia of Celestial River by you, my master."
"So in short, you're one of Lord Lucas's legacies."
"That is correct."
If he was going to give me a fortuitous encounter like this, he could have at least warned me in advance.
He must have disliked simply handing over his fortuitous encounter and decided to be subtly troublesome.
If I'd known this, I wouldn't have chosen a tank-type supporter; I would've picked one with a bit more versatility.
"Are your stats the same as in the game?"
"That is correct. As Chronicle's level rises, my restricted stats are restored accordingly."
It seems Arcia isn't growing as her level goes up, but already possesses the stats of level 250.
It's just that those abilities are currently restricted by my level.
As I was kneading my temple, trying to organize my thoughts, a sudden idea flashed through my mind.
If this girl could use the full power of level 250, wouldn't she be one of the top-ranked powerhouses in the world by real-world standards?
"Functionally, my abilities are estimated to be comparable to a 'Grandmaster.'"
"Whoa..."
News so huge I had to swallow dry air.
A Grandmaster is on par with an 8-circle mage in rank, standing shoulder to shoulder with the continent's strongest.
Arcia was such a precious gift that my worrying about how to hide her now seemed downright pathetic.
'If people ever find out that there's a Grandmaster-grade homunculus in existence, the world will go insane.'
Maybe, if Duke Lucas had really wanted to, he could have conquered the world.
In any case, having a trustworthy ally who only obeys my orders, and who also possesses overwhelming potential, is going to be a tremendous asset.
'By the way, if I had registered a lower-grade supporter, I would have regretted it like crazy.'
If I had carelessly chosen a supporter of rare grade or below, the value of the homunculus I obtained would have dropped sharply.
Seeing how Duke Lucas played tricks with the gift, I get the feeling that handling future fortuitous encounters won't be smooth sailing either.
"By the way, where did you come from?"
"I was stored in a maintenance hangar in standby mode. The hangar is located at the holy land Everhill, and the fortuitous encounter management server searched for your terminal address and transferred me."
He says "transferred," but since she's a physical object with mass, it should really be considered teleportation rather than transmission.
"Then can you return to the hangar right now?"
"Transfer is only possible at the time of initial release. After being taken out, in order to return to the hangar, I must move there directly. Even without using the hangar, I possess a self-recovery function, so there is no problem with my operation."
I wondered for a moment if I could summon and unsummon her whenever needed, but clearly I was hoping for too much.
Anyway, though I recognized that Arcia would be of great help later, her immediate treatment was a problem.
Right now I'm in no position to take care of anyone, and unlike me, she doesn't have a mana concealment skill, so the knights could easily discover what she is.
"Concealing mana is possible."
"That's at least something. Do you have any stealth functions?"
"No. Since I was configured as a warrior class, I do not possess stealth functions."
"I figured."
When I ordered her to conceal her mana, the mana I had been sensing from her vanished along with the protective barrier covering her armor.
"It can't be helped."
After agonizing for quite some time, I gave a bitter smile and decided how to treat Arcia.
'It's not like my image can get any more ruined anyway.'
* * *
'I heard Young Master Adrian is openly bringing women into the mansion now?'
'Yeah, I heard that too. Apparently, the maids caught sight of a woman lying naked on his bed.'
'He was so bright as a child, how did he end up losing his sense of judgment like that....'
Arcia had changed out of her armor into a beige one-piece dress I had urgently ordered by quick delivery.
I strode proudly through the mansion with her at my side.
Thanks to that, wherever we went, whispering followed us around like sound effects, but I didn't really care.
It was just more bad rumors piled on top of the existing ones anyway.
If there was one thing that left me a bit flustered, though
"So when are you getting married?"
My mother, simply delighted that her son had brought a woman home, said this in that tone.
While we were enjoying refreshments in the drawing room, her sudden question almost made me spit out my tea.
"I have no such plans yet."
"I heard Miss Arcia is a commoner. If you're worried about her background, you don't need to be. This mother is a commoner by birth too, you know? As long as she's not a woman from a brothel, she's welcome anytime."
Even without a title, my mother came from a merchant family of considerable scale, so in the grand scheme of society she could be considered part of the upper class.
So she was different from ordinary commoners.
"I think it would be best if you calmed down a little."
For the record, I explained that Arcia was from the *Holy Land Everhill* and that I had gotten to know her through the game.
It wasn't exactly a lie.
"By the way, when did Lady Arcia arrive? I never heard anything about a guest coming to the mansion. And for someone from another country, she doesn't seem to have any luggage."
Vice, the bodyguard knight, eyed Arcia sharply, suspicion in his gaze.
I just shrugged and answered lightly.
"She flew here by teleport."
"Pardon?"
A completely deflating answer.
What cleared up Vice's doubts was Jade, the mansion's only mage, who was occupying a corner of the drawing room.
"As I thought.... I've been periodically checking coordinate transfers within the mansion for security, and there were traces of a connection with Everhill."
"I-I see."
Mage Jade is aligned with my half-brother Cedric.
So he's not the kind of person who would make something up for my sake.
And even if he says it's for security, I'm sure he found out about it while digging into things behind the scenes.
I didn't bother adding any unnecessary explanations.
If I talked too much, holes might appear in the story.
For now, I just had to play the role of a foolish young noble who had brought a strange woman into the mansion.
* * *
Arcia's existence was reported to the lord's castle as well.
Naturally, Father exploded with rage, and my half-brother Cedric, who came to the mansion in person, seemed to like Arcia and left after spouting nonsense about handing her over to him when I got tired of her.
"At least we managed to get through it somehow."
I really need to hurry up and build power; living while constantly watching everyone's mood is exhausting.
At that moment, Arcia suddenly strode up to me.
"Why?"
When I asked what she wanted, she replied with those same emotionless eyes.
"I need to discharge fluids."
"How?"
"My body structure is the same as a human's. Therefore, through the urethra..."
So in other words, she needed to pee.
Now that I thought about it, I remembered how she had casually drunk tea and eaten snacks.
Even though she's a homunculus, it seems her bodily functions are not much different from a human's.
I pointed to the bathroom attached to the room.
But for some reason, Arcia didn't seem inclined to move toward the bathroom.
"The discharged fluids have undergone a purification process, so they are potable."
"What an insanely pointless function."
It was a feature that made me seriously question the hobbies of the great archmage Manuel Lucas.
While she was in the bathroom, I shook my head and turned on a broadcast device, which was like Earth's TV.
[Special programming. Duke Lucas's fortuitous encounter does it truly exist.]
I had turned on the broadcast device without much thought.
But its content was enough to grab my attention.
[Twenty years since Duke Lucas's fortuitous encounter was revealed.]
[Yet it has not been found anywhere.]
[Even with intelligence agencies worldwide searching with eyes wide open, the fact that they have failed to locate the fortuitous encounter for twenty years makes it inevitable to doubt his statement itself.]
Here was someone who had obtained Duke Lucas's fortuitous encounter, and watching a broadcast that kept pouring out criticism made me let out a snort.
Wasn't this the kind of broadcast that seemed intended to shake off the small fry?
The broadcast went on to mention various possibilities afterward, but most of it was fake information stitched together from hearsay, so I changed the channel.
"I'm back, Master."
"There's no need to report every time you go to the bathroom from now on."
"Yes, understood."
The conversation itself wasn't worth much, but having one more person to talk to at home didn't seem bad.
Arcia sat down beside me as if it were natural and reached for the refreshments placed in front of her like a person would.
[Breaking news. Military clashes have erupted once again along the border toward the 'Kroisen Empire.' This year, the Kroisen Empire's provocations have grown even stronger, and the number of localized conflicts has now reached five.]
News was playing on the broadcast device, but I was too preoccupied with observing Arcia to pay it any mind.
"I should go level up now."
"Understood."