The morning mist hadn't yet lifted when the system pinged into Lior's vision.
[New Quest: "A Minor Gesture"]Objective: Visit the outskirts village of Larmod. No special actions required.Reward: +5 FPFailure Penalty: None
Lior frowned at the simplicity of it. He was still in his chambers, staring out over the gray horizon. The message hung in the corner of his sight, almost irritating him.
"Five free FP?" he muttered. "Since when are they just giving these away?"
He accepted the quest with a thought. The interface chimed pleasantly and vanished.
It seemed harmless. A visit. A gesture. And if the system wanted to reward him for playing the dutiful lord, why argue?
Lior leaned back in his chair, creaking under his weight, as he read the information about thetown. The writing of his late butler, Aldric, that was sharp methodical and the neat, was changed for a rougher, cruder and not so refined one
"Larmod is small, but it is a place where pride thrives. The villagers speak freely to those above them, including your family's name, which, in their minds, carries less weight than it used to. They've grown bold. Some say it's the changing winds."
Lior frowned as his eyes skimmed the words. The villagers dared to speak freely of House Vardas? Bold indeed. After reviewing it a last time he decide it was time for departure.
Larmod lay nestled between damp hills and crooked trees, less a village and more a scattering of wooden shacks and sagging roofs. The road there was more mud than stone, the kind of place no noble would normally bother with. But Lior had a new habit of listening when the system whispered.
When he arrived, flanked by two mounted guards, the villagers gathered in the square. They had heard. Of course they had, after all in such a small town the visit of a nobleman will be a memory remembered by generations.
But it was no normal nobleman, no. It was a Vardas, no Vardas had set foot in this place in decades. Yet here he was, boots clean, eyes sharp.
They greeted him with awkward half-bows, their manners clumsy, too unfamiliar.
A man, perhaps the village elder, approached him with a half smile. He looked Lior in the eye when he spoke.
"My lord, it's an honor. We didn't expect a visit. Please, if there's anything you need"
Lior didn't answer. The system had said nothing about speaking to them. He simply waited.
[Quest Completed: "A Minor Gesture"]+5 FP awarded.
Calculating situational proximity…New Quest Unlocked.
The world around him seemed to still. A second notification slid into his vision, this one more precise.
[New Quest: "Reinstate the Natural Order"]Objective: Burn the homes of the villagers of Larmod.Reason: Insufficient deference toward noble bloodline. Presumptuous tone detected.Reward: +15 FPBonus Objective: Ensure all structures are fully razed. Uncover hidden substructures.Bonus Reward: ???Failure Penalty: Public doubt spreads within outer territories. Local lords begin questioning your authority. Chance of insubordination increased by 25% in minor vassals.
Hidden Timer Activated: "Rebellion Seed – Larmod" (???)
Lior blinked.
"What?" He thought trying to get any response from the system.
The old man before him was still smiling. Still looking him directly in the eye.
[Clarification: This is a loyalty test. Their tone breached social decorum. Correction is required.]
Lior took a step back. His hands were cold, almost trembling. Of course he had killed and destroyed castles, but he was fighting an enemy army, not some peasants without weapons, even more his own peasants.
This wasn't just a mission . This was cruelty. Burn their homes, because they spoke like people, not peasants.
He then turned away from the villagers,knowing he couldnt stop the system at least he will make sure no villager got caught in the fire.
Lior turned to the village elder "Get all the people in the town here. Now."
"Yes my lord" Responded while bowing.
Then motioning to one of his guards.
"Fetch oil. Torches."
The man hesitated. "My lord?"
"Now."
The flames bloomed fast.
The houses of Larmod were dry with the hunger of too many hard winters. The thatched roofs went up first, curling like parchment. The walls followed, cracking, screaming in the heat. The villagers shouted, panicked, tried to form lines with buckets, but his lord with the help of the two knights kept them from doing anythin, who would dare go against a nobleman after all.
Lior stood at the edge of the village, arms crossed, watching.
No one tried to stop him.
A woman screamed as her home collapsed. A child cried. The elder, he didn't smile now. He stared at Lior from across the blaze, mouth open in disbelief. But Lior didn't meet his eyes again.
He watched the structures fall.
He waited.
And then the system, always precise, delivered its reward:
[Quest Completed: "Reinstate the Natural Order"]+15 FPBonus Objective: Achieved.Reward: +1 Rare Discovery
The earth groaned as one of the collapsing buildings tore away its floor, revealing a stone opening half-buried in ash and roots.
A forgotten staircase.
[New Location Unlocked: The Map of the Forgotten Kingdom]
Lior didn't move. Didn't smile. He just whispered to the flames:"Of course."
The system's voice slithered back into his thoughts.
[Master. You must not regret. Look at what you've found. After each failure you will find a hidden gem master.]
He didn't answer. The screams were already fading, the peasants already tired decide to just watch in silence. Some knelt. Some cursed.
He stepped forward, toward the ruin, his boots crunching on scorched soil.
As he approached the open maw in the ground, a final notification slid into place:
[Passive Trait Gained: Lineage Dominion]Your presence enforces ancestral hierarchy. Lower-blooded individuals will hesitate to defy you. Public punishments increase your control in feudal territories.
[Trait unlocked: "Ancestral Forgery"]You may now edit historical records within family archives and ancestral halls. Each erasure leaves a scar. Some scars remember.
Lior stared at the traits. At what he was becoming.
And beneath his skin, the system purred.
[This is progress, Master. Painful. Necessary. Beautiful.]
Lior took the first step into the ruins.
Ash clung to his boots.