CHAPTER 28:
System Administrator
“Oh, Your Majesty… That is…”
Even the quick-witted Duke Hamilton was momentarily at a loss for words and stammered awkwardly.
“I lost my senses due to my poor health and ended up getting lost. Haha…”
Anyone could tell it was utter nonsense. Just as the emperor furrowed his brow to call it out—
“Oh! A horn flute!”
The clueless Third Princess, Ruibel, exclaimed cheerfully.
Duke Hamilton, startled, quickly tried to cover up the horn flute poking out from beneath his sleeve.
But it was too late—Ruibel and Christine had already seen it.
“It looks just like the kind of flute that summons monsters!”
“M-Monsters?!”
This time, Orent raised his voice in shock.
“Prince Ancelot of Luenhart once told me about it. If you carve a horn flute from a monster’s bones and infuse it with mystical power, you can use it to summon monsters.”
Ruibel blushed as she brought up the story, clearly smitten with the prince.
“Prince Ancelot knows so many things. He’s just amazing.”
She added bashfully.
Despite recently becoming a Swordmaster and attracting political attention, she still acted like a giddy young girl in love.
Orent, who had briefly been wary she might know something more, relaxed and scolded her.
“That’s not something to speak of in front of His Majesty.”
“Oh—I’m sorry!”
Ruibel quickly snapped back to reality and apologized.
“I just keep thinking about Prince Ancelot all the time lately, and I… lost focus…”
“Wait.”
It was Christine, who had remained silent until now, who finally spoke.
“I find that story quite interesting, Ruibel.”
“Hmm? You mean Prince Ancelot? He’s like the warm spring sun, and like the—”
“No.”
Christine cut off Ruibel’s gushing before it could go on endlessly. She made her true interest clear.
“I meant the story about the horn flute.”
“Oh…!”
Ruibel clapped her hands as realization struck.
“You mean the monster-summoning horn flute?”
She then began to describe the horn flute, eyes sparkling.
The shady item I bought from the Dark Guild Store ended up being extremely helpful in setting up a trap for Orent and Duke Hamilton.
I used the Peacock Wind Fan the moment Duke Hamilton arrived at the palace, stirring a wind just strong enough to blow off his wig—thanks to practice the night before.
While his attendant dropped the gift box and rushed to help him, I quickly swapped out the item inside.
Everyone was too distracted by the infamous shine of Hamilton’s bald head to notice.
I also benefited hugely from using the Invisibility Bracelet and Lus’s Footsteps to boost my speed and stay hidden.
Of course, the item I planted was the very horn flute that Ancelot had snatched from the duke’s bedroom.
I was then able to time everything perfectly and bring Mother to the scene, thanks to the minimap.
Not only did it show the layout of the palace, but it also marked where people were moving in real time.
There’s a reason Mother, the youngest princess of the former emperor, claimed the throne over all her elder brothers.
She was sharp and incredibly resourceful.
Even with the few hints I dropped, she quickly figured out something was suspicious about the duke and ordered the knights to investigate the horn flute.
They found a hidden chamber in his quarters and confiscated a whole stockpile of horn flutes.
Even many that had already been used.
Among them was the Horn of Aegir, which had summoned the <Lv.49 Bald Kraken>, so they began investigating its link to the lake incident as well.
Ancelot played a major role in helping the knights locate that secret chamber.
‘If you’re going to bribe me, you might as well make it worth it.’
‘You’re so greedy. You’re not even playing the scenario properly.’
Despite grumbling, he agreed to help.
He infiltrated the palace knights and uncovered the chamber.
I wondered how he managed to sneak in so easily—but he never did tell me.
‘The rest is up to Mother.’
I’d handed her all the clues—she’d figure out the rest.
She was capable. The truth I’d been seeking would soon be revealed.
As the sky turned crimson at dusk, I stood along the palace promenade, looking toward Orent’s Second Prince Palace.
In just half a day, the place had been turned upside down. Many of its people were taken by palace guards.
I watched the now-deserted palace and pondered.
‘Is this really connected to the system administrator?’
It was hard to believe it wasn’t, especially since the Horn of Aegir was found in Orent’s bedroom.
But Orent and the duke were far too sloppy to be the system administrator themselves.
‘Maybe someone close to them is…’
Step, step.
Footsteps not my own echoed nearby.
‘And now that I’ve stirred the pot, they’ll surely show themselves.’
A tall shadow stretched behind me.
“How strange.”
A man’s displeased voice rang out.
“You’re clearly a player… So why are you disrupting the system? Like some kind of bug.”
As he muttered, I slowly turned around.
It was a familiar face.
Cedric, Second Prince Orent’s aide.
“It was you, wasn’t it? The one who gave Hezen the horn flute… and manipulated the saintess of Taal Kingdom into delivering that bizarre prophecy.”
“Tsk.”
He clicked his tongue. And at that moment, the text above his head changed.
Brillanta Branch Manager <SM_Cedric>
“Cedric, Branch Manager of Brillanta. You may call me a System Manager.”
He gave a courteous bow.
“Of course, this is likely the last time you’ll ever address me. This playthrough appears to be a failure.”
“Why did you do it?”
I raised my voice at his calm confession.
“Your actions endangered people’s lives! Giving the horn flute to Orent and the duke had nothing to do with progressing the scenario!”
“Because Prince Orent was meant to be the rival of the real player, Hezen.”
He answered, scowling like he was disgusted even thinking about it.
“That idiot kept chasing after female characters instead of playing the actual story. I needed something to provoke him.”
“What…?”
“So I gave the horn flute to Orent. I figured if Orent gained more fame, the player would feel pressured to catch up and push the scenario forward.”
“….”
So the system administrator had moved purely with one goal—
‘To ensure smooth progression of the scenario.’
Just like when he tried to kill me to awaken Hezen, all of this was part of the cursed “order of the system.”
“All that… just for that?”
As I glared at him, the air around us suddenly shifted.
“Terminate her.”
Cedric gave the command.
The atmosphere turned frigid—
“ will be terminated.”
“ will be terminated.”
“ will be terminated.”
Dozens of people with cloudy gray eyes lunged at me.
[Warning! Player in danger!!!!]
A system alert flashed.
[SYSTEM] Switching to Auto-Battle Mode.
[SYSTEM] Activating skill <Lus’s Footsteps>.
[SYSTEM] Movement speed temporarily increased by +500%.
The skill triggered automatically—my body dodged the attacks on its own.
Gasp… pant…
Looking back, the place I had just been was now shredded from a heavy strike.
I’d seen Hezen use skills before, but this was my first time activating one as the player.
A description floated before me:
Skill: Lus’s Footsteps
- Passive Effect: Movement Speed +500%
- Duration Remaining: 4 min 52 sec
- Cooldown: 5 hr 59 min 52 sec
With its long cooldown, it was basically a one-time-use skill. I had just under five minutes to finish this.
“A mere Herald, interfering…”
Cedric sneered at the system window.
[But she’s the Player! Not a bug!]
“As System Manager, I decide what threatens system order.”
“If this is your idea of order… then I’ll shatter it.”
I drew the sword from my waist and leveled it at him.
“Oh, how very bug-like of you.”
At his signal, more “cleaners” appeared and charged.
Red targeting icons appeared above their heads.
Auto-Battle Mode recognized them as enemies, and my body attacked instinctively.
It was convenient, but not a permanent solution.
There were simply too many of them.
‘They just keep coming—wait…?’
I froze, eyes widening.
“Elizabeth…?”
Among the gray-eyed attackers was my sister, Elizabeth. She didn’t recognize me.
My body moved to attack her—
I frantically disabled Auto-Battle Mode.
[SYSTEM] Auto-Battle Mode disabled.
I dodged instead of attacking.
[Player!!!]
“You humans are so weak.”
Cedric sneered at my hesitation.
He must have made Elizabeth a cleaner on purpose, to mess with me.
I burned with rage.
“This isn’t weakness.”
The will to protect others isn’t weak—it’s the strongest force in the world.
‘I won’t fall for your dirty tricks.’
I opened my inventory and pulled out a book.
The Cult Leader’s Scripture, bought from the Dark Guild Store.
‘Those with high faith become Cleaners, obeying system managers.’
Ancelot had told me that. So—
‘I just need to lower their faith.’
I read a passage aloud:
“In the beginning, the Creator divided light and dark and opened the world!”
[SYSTEM] Using Cult Leader’s Scripture (500/500).
A system notification popped up.
I looked up with a triumphant smile—
Then I saw the message:
[SYSTEM] Local population’s faith has decreased by 1 point.
…Just one?
“What the—just one?!?”
