Chapter 3

3

Then it was time to find out about Luke Eslante, the person who would become me from now on.

“You.”

“Yes, sir?”

The maid, who had been called again, seemed to be overly startled, perhaps because of what I had done to her, and answered with a jolt.

She was so startled that she seemed surprised by her own response and didn’t know what to do.

Although her answer was a bit loud, I didn’t feel like scolding her because I was largely responsible for her being so startled.

“Don’t be afraid, come and sit here.”

The maid sat down on a chair, extremely tense.

“How long have you been working here?”

“This is my third year.”

“When did I become bedridden?”

“It’s been about six months.”

Good, you pass.

“I don’t remember anything right now. I don’t know who I am, where I am, or who you are. I can only guess the situation from the atmosphere.”

“Don’t worry, young master. You’re just in shock, but your memory will come back soon.”

That’s unlikely to happen.

“Even if it does, it’s a problem right now because it’s so frustrating. So, I’d like you to tell me a bit about it. Can you do that?”

When I spoke seriously, the maid answered in a cowering manner.

“I’ll do my best.”

I listened to a long story from the maid until the next mealtime.

After finishing dinner, I organized what the maid, Ella, had told me.

Luke Eslante, the second of three children in the Eslante Baron family, has an older brother.

When I saw the opulence of the room where I was lying, I thought it belonged to a very wealthy merchant or at least a mid-level noble, but being a baron was quite unexpected.

A baron is the lowest rank among nobles and is often poor, even more so than a wealthy merchant, as they usually own a small fief.

Of course, this poverty is relative, not absolute.

As I listened to Ella’s explanation, my doubts naturally resolved.

The Eslante Baron’s fief was neither large nor a fertile grain-producing area, so it was a poor fief. However, it became wealthy ten years ago due to the discovery of a ruby mine.

In other words, it was a case of sudden wealth from the mine.

Well, let’s say the opulence of my room is due to that, but the reason I became bedridden was very suspicious.

I was originally frail, but six months ago, I suddenly fell ill and lapsed into a coma.

The first thing that came to mind was a poisoning attempt.

The second was Lucifer’s involvement.

Although Lucifer said it was difficult for them to interfere in this world, I wondered if it was possible to put a healthy person into a coma.

Of course, neither of these is certain.

Most of the useful information was about the family history.

Father, the Eslante Baron, lives in a separate residence in the capital, apparently enjoying a luxurious life with the sudden wealth.

Additionally, he seems to be trying to gain power by lobbying among the influential nobles.

The most shocking thing I heard while listening to the family history was about the lady of the house.

The lady, the Eslante Baroness, is 24 years old.

“What? 24 years old?”

“Yes, yes!”

“How old am I?”

“I’m 16 this year.”

“……?”

“……?”

I looked at Ella with a puzzled expression.

“Oh!”

Then Ella suddenly clapped her hands as if she had realized something.

“I believe the lady has been married to the Eslante family for eight years. And...”

Ella looked at me as she spoke.

“Just say it. Don’t hold back.”

“The previous Eslante Baroness, Luke’s mother, passed away eight years ago...”

Ella’s voice became so soft at the end that it was barely audible.

My mother is dead, and the current baroness is a new wife.

Wait, that means she was the same age as me when she got married.

“...Luke’s mother was the second wife.”

“...”

According to Ella, the Eslante Baron has been married three times. He divorced his first wife after she gave birth to his older brother, remarried my mother, and after her death, married the current baroness.

“So that’s why. Even if stability is important, if it were a real mother, she would have insisted on coming to see me.”

Even if the butler had tried to stop her, a mother would have insisted on seeing her child who had been in a coma for six months.

I accepted the situation without any emotion, but Ella’s face turned so pale it looked like a corpse.

“No, no. The lady has been worried about you for the past six months and hasn’t been able to sleep...”

I stopped Ella, who was trying to salvage the situation, with an open palm.

For me, this time was rather convenient, and I had no complaints.

It was easier to deal with someone who wasn’t my biological parent.

“Don’t worry about me. Ella, right? Thank you very much. I won’t forget this.”

“That’s not proper at all.”

Ella waved her hands, but her complexion seemed to be returning to normal.

When she was talking about the baroness earlier, her face was so pale that it looked like she might be terminally ill.

As I was thinking if there was anything else to ask, a message appeared.

Intruders? It seemed that adventurers had entered my dungeon.

I hadn’t expected the first battle situation to come so quickly, so it was inevitable to be a bit flustered.

The time had suddenly come to choose between giving up the obtained abilities and living a normal life or sacrificing others to gain power.

Could I be satisfied with a normal life?

As the second son of a suddenly wealthy baron, I could live without worrying about money.

However, in this world where there are beings with overwhelming power that can ignore laws and order, the background of being the second son of a baron is far too weak to live peacefully.

If the reason for my coma was not Lucifer’s involvement but a plot by someone else, I might wake up and, after a few days, find myself back in hell.

I didn’t want to repeat a life of just breathing while enduring the emptiness I felt in my previous life.

Thinking this way, it didn’t take long to make up my mind.

Putting aside my hesitation, I sighed once and opened the dungeon window.

When the dungeon window activated, I could see the dungeon from a third-person perspective.

Moving to the entrance of the dungeon, I saw four figures.

They were all men wearing poorly made leather armor, and their weapons were crude swords.

When I zoomed in, I could hear their conversation.

From the content of their conversation, they seemed to be young men from the countryside who dreamed of becoming adventurers.

So, they were sneaking into this cave, which could hardly be called a dungeon.

Even so, comparing my dungeon to a wild boar was unpleasant.

I couldn’t see the levels or stats of these young men, so it was impossible to gauge their strength, but my pride, which I had invested my life in simulation games, wouldn’t accept defeat from the start.

I sent three goblins to the overly cautious young men.

As expected, the young men were startled by the sudden attack of the goblins, but they managed to kill the three without much trouble.

Once they confirmed that they could kill the goblins without any problems, the young men became excited.

They giggled, mentioning the name of someone they didn’t know.

They were so excited, but this confirmed it.

These guys would be easily taken care of by the remaining 21 goblins.

Although they killed the three goblins without injury, it wasn’t instantaneous.

If they were overwhelmed by numbers and attacked from all sides, they would eventually die.

Moreover, since I could intervene in the goblins’ movements, tactical operations were possible.

However, I explored other options.

I would win a frontal battle, but I would have to accept the loss of goblins.

Already having lost three, the basic principle in a simulation game is to gain advantages with minimal losses from the start.

The young men’s pace quickened, and their caution decreased.

At this rate, they would reach the inner cave where the remaining goblins were gathered in less than five minutes.

I hurriedly opened the shop window and looked at the dungeon-related items.

I had 500 negative points.

I needed to find something useful with this limited currency.

For 500 points, I could buy five goblins or other low-level monsters, or one orc at most.

If so, the only option was a trap that could catch the enemy off guard at a low cost.

Traps that required mechanical installation or were complex were expensive, but there were many cheap ones.

I bought two metal wire traps.

Then I started to follow the young men.

The young men entered deep into the cave, and even the faint light disappeared.

They had torches, but their field of vision was limited.

I placed a few goblins in the darkness and timed it.

When the young men gathered at an appropriate location, I had the goblins throw weapons.

The young men were startled by the sudden appearance of stone axes and rocks in the darkness.

Naturally, they took a step back, and I installed wire traps at their ankle level at that moment.

The wire trap cost 50 points, and another 50 points to reduce the installation time, totaling 100 points.

The trap, which cost as much as one goblin, showed excellent efficiency.

Three of the young men were caught by the wire and injured.

To say they were injured, their ankles, caught by the sharp metal wire, were almost severed.

The bones were still connected, but they couldn’t move with such injuries.

They were probably just simple farmers until recently.

The only one who was unharmed waved the torch around and asked.

But he couldn’t regain his composure from the continuous stone throwing.

One of them, who was writhing on the ground, was hit in the head by a flying rock and fell face down.

Even if the goblins were weaker than adult men, the stone throwing in the darkness was sufficiently threatening to ordinary people.

Taking the fall of one of them as a signal, the young man who lost hope turned and started running.

The other young men pleaded for their lives, but they couldn’t possibly carry the two injured and the one unconscious and escape.

I ordered the goblins to subdue the two who had fallen and followed the fleeing young man.

So, you abandon your friends.

I installed a wire trap on the waist of the young man who was running frantically.

The young man stopped when the wire had cut halfway through his body.

It wasn’t a clean bisect like in the movies; the speed of the run in the cave was insufficient.

The young man collapsed, spilling his intestines from his split abdomen.

The end of the young men who dreamed of becoming adventurers to avoid a boring life was truly boring.

After the battle, I opened the message log, and messages started to appear.

The reward for dealing with just four clumsy adventurers was impressive.

Level up, 5,000 negative points, and a bonus of 5 points.

Excitement slowly rose in my chest.

This was too similar to a game.

A system where you become stronger and receive rewards for your efforts.

The simulation game I loved so much had become reality.

I couldn’t help but be thrilled.

Suddenly, I remembered the conversation with Lucifer.

Right. Lucifer, you were right.

I’m not good enough to give up such abilities and live a peaceful life, dying of old age.

While thinking about how Lucifer would smile, I remembered the three others who were captured.

Checking the dungeon again, the goblins had only subdued them as I ordered, and were waiting without further instructions.

They were just beginners, but if I hadn’t intervened, they might have completed their first hunt safely and eventually become veteran adventurers, perhaps even heroes.

But they came in to kill the weaker goblins and gain strength and money.

They just happened to encounter me, and the adventurers didn’t have the strength to overcome it.

I don’t find killing enjoyable, but in this world where the logic of the strong preying on the weak is more firmly applied, I can endure the discomfort of my heart to gain the power to avoid being in a weaker position.

I withdrew the command to control the monsters.

The goblins, delighted, started to slaughter the terrified remaining young men.

Although I couldn’t see the next scene after closing the dungeon window, the message that I had gained negative points soon informed me of the deaths of the remaining adventurers.