As the words left the elder's mouth, the system prompt flickered back into vision.
[Congratulations, Ethan Cross! You have been appointed as a Village Chief.]
Then, it flickered in rapid succession.
[Your journey to becoming an Emperor starts now.]
[Starting rewards have been sent to your inventory.]
Before Ethan could process what has happening, another message flashed in bold red letters.
[WARNING: Treachery detected!]
[Generating starting mission...]
[Mission: Fish out the traitor.]
[Objective : Your predecessor was poisoned by one of the villager elders under Lord Bolton's orders, unmask the traitor before he escapes by midnight.]
[Reward: +100 Wood, +100 Stone, +10 EXP]
[Bonus Perk: Appraisal (Allows the user to see information of people around him.]
[Punishment: If the traitor escapes, Lord Bolton learns of your survival ahead of schedule and sends an assassin.]
Looks like the game world is following missions I've already passed in the real world. And I already have a suspect in mind.
Slowly digesting the rapid burst of information, Ethan sucked in a cold breath when he read the introduction of appraisal.
Reading the mission prompt one more time, his eyes darted across the room, before settling on the elder with a scar across his face.
In the real world he had failed to find the traitor before he escaped. And a week later Bolton had sent an assassin after him. Only managing to scrape by after using his hard earned money to top-up in-game currency, which in turn triggered his heart attack.
The memory made his fist clench, but he forced himself to relax. A rueful smile formed on his lips, standing up, he bowed slightly towards the elders in the room.
"Thank you for your trust, I promise I won't let you down."
His eyes darted between the elders. Maybe it's someone else this time? Had his arrival altered events? Either way he would first confirm his suspicions.
Turning to the girl standing behind him. "Walk with me Anna."
He headed out of the hall. As they stepped outside, Anna looked at him, her blue eyes sparkling. "You're slowly recovering your memory aren't you?"
Ethan glanced back at her, with a questioning gaze. "What gave it away?"
Crossing her arms she smiled. "I didn't tell you my name after you asked me where you were and who you were."
Ethan chuckled and continued walking forward.
In truth, he still had zero recollection of his predecessors memory but he had the memories about almost everything in the village.
Anna's voice came from behind. "Hey wait up." Followed by hurried footsteps.
The villagers stared at him when he walked past them, some of them greeting him. In turn Ethan nodded, acknowledging their greetings.
After a round of exchanging pleasantries with the overly enthusiastic villagers, he turned to Anna.
"Get me whatever is left of our money."
Anna nodded vigorously, before walking off into the distance. Watching her back move further away, he approached Elder Gareth's house, slipping in unnoticed.
Inside smoke wafted out from a crudely made fireplace, the ember on the firewood inside it glowing slightly. He walked toward the bed peering underneath, he saw a small woodem box.
Dragging it out, he opened it. Inside, a handful of bronze coin lay scattered atop a brown parchment. Tracing the coins with his hand, he brushed against a slight bulge on the parchment.
Moving the parchments, his eyes narrowed at what he saw.
'A silver coin?'
That amount was unheard of for a village elder. Even wealthy town merchants rarely carried one.
The fact of that alone, deepened his suspicion of the elder.
Pocketing the coin, he smirked, "Thanks Gareth, your contribution will not be forgotten."
Sliding the box back, he stood up moving across the room swiftly.
After a round of futile search without any concrete evidence to incriminate Gareth. He exhaled sharply frustration creeping in. Taking one final glance of the room he prepared to leave.
Any longer and Gareth could come back and catch him inside his house.
'Anyway I survived it before I'm sure I can do it again.'
Ethan sighed, shaking his head. Maybe he was overthinking things. Maybe the coin was just a lucky windfall. He walked towards the door—but froze mid-step. His boot had caught on something, a tiny ridge on the floorboards.
He crouched down, as his finger ran across the floorboards, his heart pounded wildly. Feeling the ridge, he smiled. There it was—a slight give, unnoticeable due to the dim lighting of the room.
Gazing at the ceiling, he shook his fist. 'Curse you medieval rooms and poor lighting.'
Glancing back down, he gently pulled it up, the ridge creaked softly revealing a tiny hidden compartment with a vial containing a colourless liquid.
His lips slowly stretched into a smile. "Bingo."
Sealing back the compartment, Ethan slipped out of the house.
With his heart now at ease, he walked towards his own house, just as Anna walked out carrying three jute pouchs. Smiling wryly. "This is all the money I could find in the house."
"Thanks Anna. Gather the villagers tell them I'd like to address them."
Handing him the pouchs she nodded, "Alright."
Ethan shook the pouchs as if weighing them, the coins inside clinking against each other. He muttered. "This would do."
He walked inside his house, walking out a minute later before walking toward the meeting hall.
Opening the door he walked in, staring at the Elders, his gaze lingering heavily on Elder Gareth.
'Enjoy your moment of peace snake, soon I'll smoke you out of your burrow.'
Placing his on the table, he turned to, Elder Ludwig the village's accountant, "Elder Ludwig, I want to have a look at the villages income report. Can that be arranged?"
"Certainly, I'll have someone bring it to your cabinet before the day runs out."
Ethan nodded in appreciation, standing up he cracked his neck. "I rallied the villagers together I'd like to address them, you all don't mind being there do you?"
Elder Gareth, stared at him sneering in contempt. 'Already abusing his authority.'
"Of course not." Helen the female elder responded.
Morris the, bearded older man stood up, "Lead the way Chief."
Ethan turned around, walking out the door accompanied by the elders. Sweeping his gaze across the gathered villagers, Ethan's heart skipped a beat.
'I forgot how much I hate public speaking.'
Ethan cleared his throat loudly, raising his hand up, the mumurs slowly died down.
Glancing across the crowd, he suppressed the stage fright enveloping him, closing his eyes briefly.
He opened them again much more confident. "My fellow villagers, our elder council has appointed me as your new village chief."
The murmurs returned, exhaling Ethan continued. "And it's a badge I plan to wear with honour, just like my father did and his father before him."
"But with a traitor in our midst it becomes a hindrance to my job and creed."
The atmosphere turned tense as the villagers began murmuring, glancing subtly to the left, Ethan noticed Elder Gareth shifting uncomfortably.
Turning his gaze back to the villagers he continued. "What do we do to traitors?
Anna shouted excitedly, "We burn them." All the villagers turned glancing at her. The ones close to her shuffling away awkwardly.
Ethan smiled, his voice gaining an up tone as he asked again, "What do we do to traitors?"
Anna replied swiftly again. "We burn them." Accompanied by murmurs from the villagers.
His voice rose a few more pitches. "What do we do to traitors?"
A handful of villagers joined in. "We.. burn them."
Shouting once more, "What do we do to traitors."
The rest of the villagers joined the chorus. "We burn them."
"What do we do to traitors?"
"We burn them."
At first, Gareth's expression was unreadable, but as the chant grew louder, his fingers twitched at his sides.
Ethan smiled, at the thought of Gareth sweating nervously.
Elder Morris cleared his throat. "Do you have evidence on this traitor?"
Turning to face the elders behind him, his gaze resting on Gareth he smiled, "Yes I do."
Pulling out the silver coin from his pocket, raising it into the air.
"Exhibit A."