Death... and me

Rean looked at Roan with a weird face, his message obvious.

'You just had to do that...'

Roan felt helpless. It's not like he could predict that killing the man would initiate this thing. Still, they didn't have time to complain as the Soul Gem System's voice echoed in their minds.

[The Empire's situation is becoming more and more complicated by the day. At the moment, the waves that it causes are not perceptible for the majority, but it will not last for many years. The Old Emperor can't decide who will inherit the throne, making the Empire's destiny more unpredictable than it should be. The Empire needs someone genuinely willing to protect it and keep the peace for the sake of its people.]

[Objective: Help Princess Calina Sasamil take the throne.]

[Time for completion: Unlimited.]

[Rewards: 20000 Destiny Points.]

[Authority Reward: Five Levels.]

[Title Reward: Empire's Destiny Saviors.]

[Failure Conditions 1: Another Emperor or Empress takes the throne.]

[Failure Conditions 2: Calina Sasamil Dies.]

[Punishment for Failure: Hosts' Eradication.]

Rean and Roan were taken aback.

'This shit really came out of nowhere!'

They already expected that it would be something complicated. After all, the quest name 'Empire's Succession' definitely sounded grand. However, they never thought that it would be something as ridiculous as this.

'Sister Orb, this doesn't make any sense at all! Roan and I are only Foundation Establishment cultivators. What the hell does the system expect us to do? It doesn't matter how I see it. This sudden jump in difficulty shouldn't happen to us!'

Roan couldn't agree more.

'He's right! We barely know this Calina girl! Why the hell would the Soul Gem System entangle us with her like that? First of all, does she even want to be the Empress? I doubt so! Sister Orb, you must do something! It is obvious that the system is trying to kill us!'

[Shut up! I have nothing to do with it! Didn't you see what the system said? It was a Hidden Quest! It meant that even I was completely unaware of its existence. I told you before, I'm more like a helper. I have little effect on the system's decisions. If you don't wanna die, you better think about something.]

[However...]

Rean and Roan's attention was immediately piqued.

'However? However what? Don't hold back, just tell us.'

[Well, I also think that this sudden spike in difficulty compared to what you did before is too unreasonable. Yet, there is one thing that I know for sure. The Soul Gem System will never release a quest or a mission that is impossible to complete. For it to have unlocked this quest, it means that there must be a way of finishing it.]

[Besides, you saw that, didn't you? There's no time limit. That means even the system doesn't know how long it will take for the Emperor to decide on the next successor.]

'Ahh... fuck it! Let me think.'

Roan calmed himself down and began to ponder about the contents of the quest. As unwilling as he might be, he knew that continuing to complain would lead nowhere.

'There are a few points hidden in the Soul Gem System's message. First, it's the waves caused by the Emperor's indecision. It said that those waves are not perceptible by those outside the Imperial Family's circle. That means the situation still hasn't reached a critical point where the Emperor will be forced to make a decision.'

'The second point is the 'will not last for many years.' That means we still have a lot of time before the real struggle for the throne starts. From what the system said and the pieces of information we got from Valeu, all the princes and princesses are still gathering allies. From the nine subordinate clans, only two have chosen a faction up to this point.'

During the interrogation, Roan asked Valeu about all of the subordinate clans around the Imperial Family. The Nine Clans were the Samikil, Lavil, Taran, Fole, Susume, Dekaslo, Mantil, Porem, and Wavile clans. Valeu told them that their Samikil clan had allied with the first prince, Lamares. As for the second, the Wavile clan joined the fifth prince's side, Salael.

All the other seven clans were still indecisive about what they should do. After all, allying with the wrong side would result in centuries of suppression by the clans and the Emperor they were against at first. The only reason they wouldn't be destroyed is that they were still part of the Empire's forces. Yet, none of them wanted to draw the short stick. After all, the outcome would be directly related to their own share of resources of the Empire.

'The third point is that the system said that the Empire needs someone genuinely willing to protect it and keep the peace. For me, this is the most critical point. The hidden meaning behind it is what bothers me the most.'

Rean and Sister Orb became confused.

[Why? It seems pretty clear to me.]

Rean nodded.

'Same. The objective is to help Calina take the throne. In other words, Calina is willing to protect the Empire and keep it peaceful. Well, peaceful to the point as to what a cultivation world could reach. Compared to Earth, this world had never been peaceful at all.'

[Right? I also think the same.]

Roan snorted after hearing those two.

'Idiots. It has nothing to do with Calina. Although I'm not 100% sure, I'm at least 90% confident of what I'm thinking. The problem here is that the system could have picked any of the more developed princes or princesses. With Rean's Communication System and our talent, although difficult, we would eventually be able to join one of their sides. That means this quest would be a lot easier to complete. Don't you agree?'

Sister Orb and Rean nodded. Well, only Rean since Sister Orb had no head, but she agreed with Roan nonetheless.

Roan then continued.

'Since the system selected Calina, that can possibly mean just one thing. All the other influential princes and princesses also think that the Chrole Empire is a threat! It's just that they are not as loud about it as the First Prince, Lamares!'

'Ah!'

[Ah!]

Indeed. The Soul Gem System wanted someone to keep the Empire peaceful. If any of the other influential inheritors had this wish, it would have been much better to ask Rean and Roan to help them instead of Calina. However, it did not do so. It's not guaranteed, but that possibly meant that they all agreed with the idea of dealing with the Chrole Empire.

Roan added another point.

'This also means that we now know why the Emperor is indecisive. He most likely knows that all his best inheritors all shared a similar view regarding the Chrole Empire.'

It was then that Roan noticed something.

'Oh, I see... Seems like Sister Orb wasn't wrong after all.'

[Of course! I'm never wrong... By the way, what is it that I wasn't wrong about?]

Rean and Roan's mouths twitched.

'Never wrong your ass! Can you be even more shameless than that?'

[Hmph!]

Roan calmed down again and continued.

'Whatever. You said that the system never gives an impossible quest or mission to complete. That's the part you were right about. Just now, I found out where our silver lining is. Of course, I might be wrong about it as well. However, I'm pretty confident in my hypothesis.'

Rean was more than happy enough to know that there was at least a way out of this.

'What is it?'

Roan then explained.

'From what Valeu said, the Emperor doesn't have much longer to live. However, we are talking about a monster with insanely high cultivation. His 'much longer' is definitely a lot bigger than an ordinary person's 'much longer.' That means he still has quite a few years to live. The proof of it is also inside the 'not many years' mentioned by the Soul Gem System's Quest.'

'Anyway, that's not the main point. The crux of the issue here is that the Emperor will not live for long from the perspective of a high-level cultivator's lifespan. Since the Emperor already knows that all his princes and princesses with potential have the same view of the Chrole Empire, why is he hesitating to select one of them? At first, I thought that it was because they were similar that he couldn't decide.'

'In fact, it is still the truth. Because they all think the same way about the Chrole Empire, the Emperor hasn't picked one of them yet. However, the reason for his hesitation was different from what I thought.'

'Don't you think it's weird? We already know that the first and fifth princes are both talented and intelligent. Considering how close to death the Emperor is, why didn't he simply pick one of the two? If push came to shove, he could simply have forced them into some kind of competition to decide which one to pick. He is still the Emperor, after all. However, he did not do so.'

Only then did Rean catch the meaning of Roan's words.

'Ah! I see... The Emperor... doesn't want to attack the Chrole Empire. We don't know if he sees the Chrole Empire as a threat or not. But at the very least, he doesn't think it's worth starting a war against them. Perhaps he is even friends with the Chrole Empire's Emperor or something like that. Now I understand why Valeu kept calling him an idiotic emperor.'

Roan nodded.

'Exactly! That also brings us to the main point of this quest. To help Calina ascend to the Throne as Empress. That could only mean one thing. The Emperor is waiting for an alternative to appear, someone willing to carry his wishes of a peaceful arrangement. In the Soul Gem System's eyes, the Sasamil Princess with half of Chrole's Imperial Family's bloodline is a perfect choice. Above all, she's someone that absolutely doesn't wish for a war to happen. Because of that, we got stuck with this kid here...'

Roan shrugged his shoulders in the end.

'Well, this is all a theory, but I still think it is at least worth a try. After all, only eradication awaits on the other end.'

Rean didn't mind, saying.

'It doesn't matter. It will be a hell of a ride at the very least. However, a small chance is still several times better than no chance at all!'

[Seems like there is no need for me to cheer you up anymore.]

'Please don't. Things are probably gonna get worse instead.

[You really don't know how to treat me.]

Roan ignored Sister Orb and then looked at the princess. She still had a sad expression as Malaka comforted her. However, Roan simply didn't have the patience for all that bullshit. He moved close to her and...

*Bang!*

Kicked Calina's butt, making her fall with her face on the ground.

"Stop wasting my time. How are you going to become an Empress with an attitude like that?"

Rean and Malaka looked at Roan with eyes wide open! As much as she wasn't as an important princess compared to others, she was still someone with Imperial Blood, you know?

Calina, who had just eaten some dirt, got up in a fit of rage!

"Yo-you! You dare kick a princess of the Sasamil Empire in the butt?"

But it was then that she noticed a strange point in Roan's previous words.

"Wait! Empress? What are you talking about?"

Roan looked at Calina as if he was looking at an idiot. Oh well, he probably considered her an idiot even before that anyway. In the end, he snorted and said as if stating a matter of fact.

"Rejoice! Because I, Lord Death, am going to help you become the next Empress! There is no need to thank me."

Rean's mouth twitched a little. For some reason, that scene reminded him of a particular event from the past that he would rather forget...