For the remainder of the month of June, Evan took a break from adventuring and dungeon diving, instead taking his time dealing with other non-combat-related matters.
As the new rising star of the GWE who was climbing the ranks of nobility at an outstanding pace, there was no shortage of nobles and rich merchants who wanted to get on Evan's good side.
Receiving dozens of party or soirée invitations on a daily basis became normal, and Evan had tons of nobles watching his every move, trying to see who he was allying himself with, and all.
This was expected, as both Ralphie's, Finley's and Duke Charles' actions during the Celebratory party were an indirect declaration of them backing Evan, so no one wanted to be on his bad side.
His 'Hero' identity also played a big part in this too as the title of a 'Hero' in Aidos was one that carried great weight.
Laurene also saw her own share of the increased attention as people had connected the dots between Evan and Laurene's similar eyes and had come to the conclusion that she also possessed a 'Hero' title just like Evan did.
Something that the princess saw no reason to hide.
Back to Evan's social life, the boy attended a couple of the soirées he was invited to but mainly focused on ones where people he was already quite familiar with attended, or those whom he felt would be useful to him in the future due to his in-game knowledge.
He also familiarized himself with some nobles whose territories he would be going to for his 'side quest run' that he was planning to begin soon.
And as expected, each event that Evan had attended, had lots of attention turned towards it, much more than Evan had expected as he even received word that some high nobles/their children using their higher authorities to force themselves to be participants in the cases where they originally were not invited.
Some came to him simply because they wanted to be friends with someone popular, while some others came up to Evan because they wanted to pull him into their factions; Though this was mostly the case with the 'Neutral' and Aristocratic factions, the Royal Faction nobles simply wanted him to remain where he was since Evan was technically considered part of the Royal Faction because of his father.
Looking at the way they tried to 'recruit' him, Evan only sighed as he thought to himself.
'If only they knew the Emperor was the one pulling the strings behind all their factions.'
Evan found a sense of newfound respect for Emperor Rudeus who was able to lead the Aristocratic and 'Neutral' faction nobles around the nose without them ever realising that the Dukes who were the faction leaders, were all on the Emperor's side.
'Come to think of it, the GEE's Emperor does something similar with the 'Seven Star Generals'. Since they're all Dukes, he uses two Generals each on one faction and then keeps the 'First Star' as the Deal Breaker who'd never join any.'
Anyway, such was the manner in which Evan spent the entirety of the month of June and the first week of July, attending two to three functions and/or afternoon parties a week to either build up connections or just simply catch up with old friends.
He mostly attended events where the foreign dignitaries who came over for the celebratory party were also in attendance, laying the foundations for his plans to build up International Authority.
'It's all gonna end up mostly relying on my power either way. Strength speaks loudest after all.'
In other news, Evan officially moved out of the main Ducal Mansion and into another mansion of his own, or rather, another Estate of his own.
As a Count, Evan needed to have the appropriate residence to match the title, and he was granted one of the Large Estates that was under the control of the Empire in the capital city.
That became the Count Bourne's Official Residence, and all the letters and packages addressed to Evan went there directly.
As for Servants, the Duke had more than just a few in reserve so he transferred some of the servants who were maintaining one of his other Mansions he really didn't use to Evan's mansion, the Emperor also tossed in a few and Evan went around the main City once and came back with a couple more at the end of the day.
He remembered a few proficient facility managers from the game's 'Dimensional Realm Home Base' system and recruited the ones who he could find at the moment.
As for Salary, Evan was rich as heck, that was not an issue at all.
Naturally, Pride, Greed and Eliza also moved in with him and had whole rooms to themselves in the main Manor, which Evan had named the Oak Avenue Manor, due to the lines of majestic oak trees that adorned both sides of the main road to the building.
The spirit quartet; Kuro, Kayla, Milena and Amy, also had their own rooms to themselves, though they ended up spending most of their time in Evan, Eliza's or Pride's rooms.
Due to their and Evan's presence, the concentration of low-level spirits in the estate and its surroundings increased exponentially, enough for the people nearby to spot the differences and visibly see the effects.
After settling down in the Manor, choosing his Peerage Crest and all, it was already Mid-July and Evan finally decided to bring an end to his break and begin his 'side quest run'.
But before he could start that, he received a notification from Artemisia, informing him that she had finished designing the 'Tower of Trials' and that he could begin challenging it with his party members.
He brought this up with them during dinner that day and it was received positively, so after using the next day to gather their stuff for Tower, with the intention to step into it on the next day the 17th of July.
◇ ◇ ◇
"So, are you finally going to tell us where it is now?"
Eliza's questioning voice rang out in one of the fairly large indoor training halls of the mansion, a little extension that Evan had added when he was selecting the mansion with the Emperor.
Evan had a few rooms/halls renovated for certain purposes, like placing Teleportation Waypoints and a few other things.
In response to Eliza's question, the boy only just patted her head lightly and told her to hold on for a moment before turning his attention to the head butlers, maids and Senior knights who were standing close to the room's entrance.
"As I said earlier, I'm going to be away for at the very least, two weeks.
Anyone who comes to visit me, regardless of who they are, is to be told that I am not in the Country.
You all are to continue maintaining the mansion as you have been, and I want extra knights assigned to guard this particular room while I am away.
No one, even it is the Emperor--is allowed to enter here."
The boy's last set of orders caused the expressions on the knights' faces to change and Evan sighed softly as he knew the reason why.
"I'm sure you all understand how much I do not want anyone or thing to enter this room if I am to say that, do you not?"
"We most certainly do, Lord Evan.
But pardon me, may I ask exactly what is it we are to be guarding in this room?"
The Knight Captain took it upon himself to ask the question that all the servants and knights present had wanted to ask.
And as for the boy who this question was asked, he was busy navigating a few things on his system interface.
He then turned around and walked towards the centre of the room, told everyone to step back and then tapped a few things in the 'empty air'.
|Confirming Host; Entity: Evan Von Bourne…|
|Confirmation Complete. |
|Confirming Host's Party Members…
Challenger Slots 7 of 10 Used up. |
|Host's Party Confirmed.
Total Challenger Number: 8. |
'There's a limit of 10 Challengers? Isn't this end-game content she's bringing into reality?'
Evan thought to himself as he remembered a certain event dungeon that happened to have the exact same challenger limitations as this one from the game.
|Current Statuses of Challengers have been Inputted. |
|Entrance to Event Dungeon: 'Tower of Trials' would now spawn. |
The instant that notification appeared in Evan's vision, the boy spoke up to warn the others in the room.
"Brace yourselves."
"Huh?"
The knights and butlers were confused at this, but Pride, Greed, and Eliza who were more familiar with Evan's antics instantly applied magic power on their feet to keep themselves glued to the ground.
In the next moment, the whole building—no, the whole estate – began to tremble.
"Haa?!!"
"What the heck?!"
"What the hell's going on?!"
"Young Lord!"
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