Chapter 6
Dungeon: Sinful Hub Pelican Bar
Early the next morning, Inspector Haina went to Moriarty Manor with an authorization order from the Inspection Bureau.
This time, she had clearly learned from yesterday’s lessons.
After a simple breakfast, Haina immediately rushed over, arriving even before Seven o’clock.
At this hour, Eivass had not yet woken up. So, Butler Oswald could only first settle her in the reception hall and have the maids serve some tea and pastries.
It wasn’t until Eivass woke up, washed, and finished breakfast that Oswald informed him that Inspector Haina was waiting in the reception hall.
“…You’re here so early this time, senior. Didn’t we agree on Nine thirty?”
Eivass sat in his wheelchair, slowly pushed into the reception hall by Oswald.
As soon as he entered, he saw Haina, who was dressed formally.
Her attire was completely different from yesterday. Haina was now wearing a two-piece leather armor set.
However, this leather armor was more like a uniform than protective gear. It didn’t fully cover all her skin, and while it offered some protection, its primary significance was likely ceremonial.
In the Avalon Kingdom, “armor” held a sacred status.
The Avalon Kingdom’s main power hierarchy was divided into “Knights” and the civilian “civil servant” system. The former included hereditary Knight families eligible to enter the Senate, as well as Supervisors, Arbitrators, and the entire cavalry system. Only “Knights” were allowed to wear armor. Senators were also required to wear full armor when entering the Senate; entering in casual clothing was considered a challenge to the authority of the Round Table Hall.
Aside from Knights, anyone wearing or even possessing armor could be sentenced to the highest penalty, death. Even within Knight families, children of the family head could not wear their parents’ armor without the Queen’s authorization.
For this reason, merely seeing someone in armor on the streets allowed one to immediately identify their status. The armor’s specifications even indicated their rank – the more cumbersome to move in, the sturdier the material, the more imposing the appearance, and the closer the color to Silvery White, the higher the status.
This knowledge did not come from game experience… as the Avalon Kingdom had fallen too early. All this information came from Little Eivass’s memories and common sense.
Eivass could tell that Haina’s leather armor was brand new. He could even smell a faint scent of oil.
Because of this, Haina was hesitant to sit on the Moriarty family’s sofa. She sat cautiously on the edge, her posture upright, fearful of accidentally staining it and causing displeasure.
“Arriving early is better than being late.”
Seeing Eivass arrive, Haina let out a sigh of relief and quickly stood up from the soft sofa. “It’s alright, Mr. Eivass. I can act according to your convenience – that’s what the bureau requires.”
Eivass raised an eyebrow.
Last time they were two and a half hours late, and this time they were three hours early…
“I feel you’re a bit too extreme.”
“What?” Haina looked confused.
“Nothing,” Eivass smiled slightly. “The leather armor looks good.”
“The bureau specially approved this for me!”
Hearing this, Haina’s spirit lifted. “My equipment and Gryphon have been approved, but they are still on their way. The director said it might take another two months to get them.
“However, because I reported your situation, the director felt that if something happened to you, the Inspection Bureau would be in trouble, but if they didn’t agree, they would also be in trouble. Furthermore, sending many people to follow you might displease you; but if something happened to you, the problem would be even bigger. So, the director made an exception and approved the armor and sword for me first!”
Saying this, Haina excitedly patted the sword she had placed on the table.
Eivass followed her gaze.
It was a leaf-shaped short sword with a sheath shimmering with silver radiance. It was about twenty-four inches, or sixty centimeters, long. The sheath was etched with beautiful thorn patterns, and small, sand-sized pieces of glass in red, green, and blue were inlaid among the thorns. Under the sunlight from the window, it was dazzlingly brilliant. It was clearly a typical Elven style – whether it was practical or not was another matter, but it was certainly beautiful.
Because the sword’s appearance was so beautiful, it clashed with the somewhat simple leather armor Haina was wearing. Instead, it blended naturally with the Elven-style decorations in Eivass’s home.
This actually made Eivass think it was one of his own decorative pieces at first.
So it was you who brought it. Then it’s fine.
“I will definitely protect you well!”
Haina said with utmost determination.
Her calloused fingers gently brushed over the thorn patterns on the sword sheath. Upon taking the sword, the confident aura she exuded was instantly ignited.
Unlike the timidity, clumsiness, and caution from last night, her entire demeanor changed. Even her eyes became brighter.
To put it metaphorically, it was like the difference between a player in a horror game without a gun and one who had just received a gun.
Eivass looked deeply into Haina’s eyes, falling into silence and thought.
He noticed that she clearly hadn’t slept well last night – she was practically buzzing with excitement.
This was partly due to her early access to her personal sword. But the greater excitement stemmed from her belief that she could finally “show what she could do.”
After yesterday’s test, today’s interaction, and investigating her background, Eivass could now roughly map out Haina’s thought process.
She was clearly not very intelligent, and when things became complicated, she tended to avoid thinking logically. At the same time, she likely came from a humble background, but possessed extraordinary talent in her field – such as Swordsmanship – that she could be proud of. Consequently, her personality would tend towards stubbornness. Rather than hesitation, reflection, and complex analysis, she would rely on her intuitive judgments.
In short, she was a “martial arts enthusiast.”
Because her background was indeed ordinary, and being a village girl who never dressed up, her appearance naturally couldn’t compare to the sophisticated young ladies of the royal capital. This gave her a subtle, unconscious sense of inferiority.
This inferiority would manifest as aggression and hostility towards those with higher status than herself. However, she was also afraid of causing trouble for herself due to her lack of background, so it wouldn’t translate into actual words or actions. Yet, it could still be revealed through her attitude when faced with pressure and her instinctive reactions when making choices.
Due to her straightforward personality, her more approachable background, her exceptionally excellent grades, and her survival wisdom of not easily offending others, she was very popular in school environments, especially among students with simpler minds. Yet, upon entering society, she encountered many setbacks, making her prone to confusion, manipulation, and even straying from the path of life.
She was currently in a state of confusion.
This kind of person could be easily exploited.
The vulnerability and helplessness Eivass displayed yesterday were carefully curated to be the most easily appealing to her, based on the information he had previously gathered about Haina.
The act of “reading poetry” provided a subconscious suggestion that he was inactive. The wheelchair he sat in further reinforced this notion of “stillness,” thereby avoiding a direct confrontation with Haina, who was confident in areas like “athleticism,” “physical strength,” and “Swordsmanship,” and preventing himself from immediately provoking her competitive spirit or drawing her attention.
Eivass had looked in the mirror and possessed normal aesthetics. He knew that his current body’s appearance was quite appealing.
On this basis, Eivass had arranged for his personal maid to apply makeup to him beforehand, creating a pale, weak appearance as if from blood loss. He adjusted the fireplace to an appropriate temperature, providing a sense of relaxation, and the firelight offered a warm-toned filter for Eivass.
This way, Eivass’s image would evoke Haina’s protective instincts, or at least, not trigger her hostility due to his background. A “weak,” “injured,” and “handsome” superior was at her complete disposal, making her the “hope” that Eivass was good. This way, he wouldn’t become her adversary.
Up to this point, Haina’s instincts would tell her not to investigate further. Her work experience was not yet extensive, and her actions were easily guided by emotions. Once she had given herself an answer, she would then only be looking for evidence to support that answer.
However, when a person’s impression is too strong, their image tends to become abstract and one-sided in memory.
If Haina’s favorable impression of Eivass was too high, then when Eivass acted in a way inconsistent with her expectations, she would “disappoint herself.”
For this reason, Eivass needed to do something beforehand to make his first impression not so good, not so perfect. Therefore, he used Haina’s tardiness to say some truths she would be unwilling to believe, making her feel attacked.
In fact, she, who was in the wrong, was actually hoping for Eivass to attack her. This would allow her to relax a little.
After she interpreted Eivass’s strange words as an attack, she would subconsciously eliminate the possibility of them being true. And when Eivass proposed a possibility she could accept, she would immediately latch onto it, thereby reducing her guilt and relieving psychological pressure.
From today onwards, she could become his very reliable bodyguard.
After yesterday’s interaction, Haina would believe they had become friends. And she would be eager to showcase her most proud asset – her Swordsmanship – to this noble, innocent, gentle, cultured, and handsome new friend.
If she could truly demonstrate this, she would feel that “she had already shown her proud strengths.” She would then hope for Eivass’s affirmation.
If Eivass affirmed this and expressed that he truly needed her help, such a request would greatly satisfy her social needs.
In that case, Eivass, who was supposed to be a suspect and whom she had been wary and guarded against before contact, would become her good friend within just one day. This would naturally integrate him into her school social circle.
Although bullying a young girl who had just graduated like this made Eivass feel a bit uneasy.
This was his debt.
And Eivass never liked owing favors. Once he owed a favor, he would immediately find a way to repay it.
Otherwise, the relationship would easily become too close. Having “friends” was very dangerous, as one could be dragged into perilous situations while trying to help them, and one could also suffer painful betrayals by letting down their guard against friends.
Eivass never liked being too close to others.
— It only made him feel tense and uncomfortable.
It was best for both parties to maintain a state of mutual help and mutual utilization. Remaining in a healthy, efficient, and renewable business relationship would prevent sadness from betrayal, and resentment from abandonment… and also prevent hesitation and guilt when preparing to betray others.
Eivass’s past self was a prime example.
Because he was too enthusiastic and naive, he blindly trusted his pen pals and treated them as friends, which indeed came at a painful price.
But repaying favors was also a simple matter for him.
And in Eivass’s memory, there was no name “Haina” in the game. If nothing unexpected happened, she should have died in the first version of the game during the Avalon invasion.
Eivass was not saving Avalon for her; he was doing it for his own stable life. Therefore, saving her along the way did not count as repaying a favor.
But given Haina’s personality, insight, and abilities, there would undoubtedly be many malicious individuals in school who would try to become her false friends. Eivass could easily identify those people and help her distinguish between those who were trustworthy and reliable, and not so easily betraying true friends.
He was very skilled at analyzing others.
If anything, the profession of HR had some similarities to the Eastern Depot.
Not only did it require sharp vision and an objective attitude, but also a sufficient degree of ruthlessness and the ability to act decisively. A mere flick of the wrist meant someone was “eliminated,” losing their job, or having their salary reduced… and this was Eivass’s actual job.
What was more like the Eastern Depot was that ordinary employees could not easily offend HR.
In fact, HR professionals from different companies in the same industry usually belonged to the same groups and circles. If someone in a particular company made a foolish mistake, offended someone, or had a dark history, asking around the group would reveal all of it. It was not a secret at all.
As long as you were still a salaryman and planned to change jobs within the same industry, you could not offend HR.
At least not the first two companies, as background checks would only investigate the first two.
Eivass had recently experienced three full years of unemployment. He had just found a job and hadn’t officially started before arriving in this precarious future World.
Although his demeanor was calm and his expression serene, he had already performed a psychological analysis on himself – he was feeling intensely unsettled.
He was satisfied with his current life, but he clearly knew about the future disasters.
He urgently desired a stable life and did not want to become a refugee of a fallen kingdom, homeless and wandering.
To combat the fear of this World’s future, he had to climb as high and as fast as possible. This would allow him to gain some of the Avalon Kingdom’s authority. At the very least, he absolutely could not have his teammates dragging him down when he was facing the world’s great enemies alone.
That was not victim mentality.
Eivass was sure of it.
His foresight surpassed that of most people in this World. Their decisions, based on known information, were bound to be incomplete and flawed. And Eivass could not easily reveal the future prophecies he received – he was not a saint. This foresight could be his valuable asset.
For this reason, Eivass needed to gain sufficient influence.
Not his foster father’s “Knight” title. That kind of thing was merely nominal. Even entering the Senate would only amount to engaging in a battle of wits with a group of old foxes who had seen it all. Wanting to accomplish anything would become frustratingly slow and ineffective.
That feeling of life drifting along, with one’s fate out of one’s own control… it was unbearable.
What Eivass wanted was for those in power to consult his opinion before making decisions. He did not want to become one of them, preferably not aligning with any faction. He did not want to become a victim of internal power struggles… but to become a higher existence than them.
Not to control others, but to control himself.
To ensure he himself would not be sacrificed, nor have to sacrifice others.
Eivass vaguely remembered that this particular incident would eventually involve a certain minister.
In the original history, it was the players who gained immense prestige by resolving this incident.
Since there were no player characters in this World, he had to get involved in the investigation of this incident.
Fortunately, thanks to Yulia – although Eivass had skipped the cutscenes, he still remembered some details. For instance, where the most crucial information was located, and which enemies would appear in the final dungeon and at what levels.
Because after a messy investigation, the game’s first dungeon would open:
The Level 10 dungeon, “Sinful Hub Pelican Bar.”
