"What's the matter? You look like a walking corpse today."

I leaned against the counter, eyeing Lily. She was wiping a glass, but her movements were sluggish, and dark circles hung heavy under her eyes.

'Is someone else causing trouble?' I thought, my mood instantly darkening. 'Did another noble idiot decide to try his luck?'

"It's nothing of concern, Master," she replied with a weary smile, reading my expression. "Just… getting too many customers recently. We've been fully booked from lunch until closing."

"Oh? Is there any specific reason for that?" I asked, curious. "Our food is good, but a sudden spike like this?"

"It's because of the new amusement park opening," Lily replied, gesturing vaguely toward the city center. "Many people have been visiting from various places—noble children, merchants from foreign territories, tourists. The capital is packed."

"Oh~ That much fanfare just for some amusement park?"

"Of course not, Master. It's not just any amusement park," she said, a hint of excitement finally breaking through her exhaustion.

She leaned in, her eyes sparkling a bit.

"The family behind the amusement park is the House of Belmont. It is said they have spent a fortune on it. There are rumors that they hired explorers to excavate the ruins of the Lumeveil Empire to search for lost technologies to use in the attractions. Magic-powered rides, illusionary theaters… it's supposed to be revolutionary."

"Lumeveil, huh…"

I tapped my chin. The fallen empire of magic and technology. The same place my destroyed shotgun came from.

Hearing her yap about it, I felt a strange itch in the back of my mind. Like I was forgetting something.

Something important.

I frowned, trying to grasp the thread of memory, but it slipped away.

'…If I can't remember it even after thinking this hard, it probably isn't that important.'

I shrugged and let it go.

Jingle.

The door chime rang, but not for a customer.

Alicia walked in, practically radiating cheerful energy. She had a rolled-up newspaper tucked triumphantly under her arm.

"Boss, you are back!"

She marched over and sat opposite me, slamming the newspaper onto the counter.

"Did you read it? See! Our masterpiece is on the front page!"

Sure enough, there it was.

A grainy but unmistakable illustration of Heney Smith, stripped down to his undergarments, tied tightly to the central statue of the city square.

"I heard the discussion on the road," I replied, taking a sip of water. "People are calling it divine punishment."

"Just hearing about it isn't enough. You should have seen it first-hand!" Alicia grinned, her eyes gleaming with a terrifying satisfaction. "It's chaos out there. I was watching from the crowd when the knights arrived. You should have seen their faces when they went through the ledgers we nailed to the post."

She giggled darkly.

"They turned pale. Assassination requests, slave trading, bribery lists involving half the lower nobility… it was all there. With that much evidence exposed in public, no one can bury it. They aren't searching for who did it—they're too busy trying to stop the citizens from rioting."

"Efficient," I noted. "Just as planned."

Lily leaned over, listening curiously to Alicia's recount of the nobleman's downfall.

While they chatted about the ruin of House Smith, I picked up the newspaper to skim through the rest of the news.

Civil unrest… grain prices… hiring notices…

Then, my eyes drifted to the bottom corner of the page. A colorful advertisement box.

[CrystalVale Theme Park set to open this Sunday!]

Below it was a list of VIP guests expected to attend the grand opening ceremony.

Duke Belmont and familyCountess Ashborne (My mother?)Various Imperial OfficialsAcademy Representatives

CrystalVale.

Sunday.

Click.

The moment I read those words together, a cold shiver shot up my spine. The fog in my brain vanished instantly.

A memory from Asteria Online flashed through my mind—not a quest, but a news headline from the game's lore archives. A tragedy that marked the beginning of a dark era.

[Disaster at the Opening Ceremony of CrystalVale Theme Park.]

[The terrorist organization 'Infernus' claims responsibility.]

[Massacre of civilians and high-ranking nobles. The 'Day of Shattered Glass' leaves hundreds dead.]

My hand froze on the paper.

The joyous opening. The gathered nobility. The crowded park filled with innocent families.

It wasn't a celebration.

It was a hunting ground.

And I…

I just remembered who I promised to go with.

"Th-Then, would you like to go to the new amusement park opening this weekend with me?"

Ariana.

I had promised to take Ariana Solmere—a girl with zero combat ability—right into the middle of a terrorist attack.

"FUCK!"

I let out a curse in frustration, the word sharp enough to startle both Alicia and Lily. They jumped, their casual conversation about the newspaper cutting off instantly.

"What's the matter, Boss?" Alicia asked, her hand instinctively drifting toward her waist as if expecting an attack.

"Nothing," I said, standing up abruptly. The chair scraped loudly against the floor. "I am tired. I am going to rest. Don't disturb me."

"B-Boss?"

I didn't explain. I turned and walked straight to the stairs, my footsteps heavy.

Lily and Alicia looked at each other, puzzled and concerned. One moment he was reading the paper calmly, the next he looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Did… did we do something wrong?" Lily whispered.

"I don't think so," Alicia frowned, staring at the stairs. "But his eyes… they looked dangerous."

Inside my room, I flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

My heart was hammering against my ribs.

"CrystalVale…"

I rubbed my temples, trying to drag the details out of the depths of my memory. I played Asteria Online for years. I knew the lore. I knew the major events.

But this specific event? It was a cutscene.

A tragedy that played out in a cinematic while the player character was busy doing mid-term exams.

'The Day of Shattered Glass.'

I knew the outcome: hundreds of civilians dead. High-ranking nobles assassinated. The theme park turned into a slaughterhouse.

But I didn't know the details.

Where did the attack start? How many terrorists? What kind of monsters did they bring? Was there a bomb? A ritual?

I was blind.

"Dammit."

I sat up, running a hand through my hair.

In the game, this event was unavoidable. It was a 'Canon Event' necessary to ramp up the tension between the Empire and the radical factions. The main characters only learned about it the next day from the newspapers, fueling their motivation to fight Infernus later.

But this wasn't a game anymore.

My mother—Countess Ashborne—was going to be there.

Ariana—my alchemy genius—was going with me.

If I let this happen, I lose everything I've built.

"I have to stop it."

But how?

I stood up and began pacing the room.

This wasn't a back-alley brawl with a corrupt merchant. This was a full-scale terrorist attack organized by Infernus.

"I can't do this alone."

Even with my new stats and skills, facing an entire organization's hit squad was suicide.

I needed muscle. High-quality muscle.

First: The Protagonist Party.

Kael, Celestia, and their group. No matter how much I disliked their self-righteous attitudes, their combat power was real. Kael had plot armor. Celestia had devastating area-of-effect magic.

If they were at the park, the casualty rate would drop significantly.

'But how to get them there?'

Ariana invited me. If I could somehow leak that information… no, that's too passive.

'Suspicion.'

They were already suspicious of me. If I acted shady enough—if I made it look like I was planning something at CrystalVale—they would follow me to "stop" me.

I grinned humorlessly. Using my villain reputation to save the day. Classic.

Second: The Heavy Hitter.

Academy cadets weren't enough. I needed a nuke.

Instructor Samantha.

She was a Platinum-rank knight. A one-woman army. If she was on-site, Infernus wouldn't stand a chance.

But getting her there was the problem. She was disciplined, rigid, and a workaholic. She wouldn't be caught dead at an amusement park on her day off.

"I need a reason for her to be there. A mission. Or…"

I glanced at the desk.

"…An anonymous tip?"

No. She wouldn't mobilize based on a nameless letter. She needed something concrete.

I would have to craft a lure. Something that screamed 'Danger to Students.'

Third: My Own Strength.

I stopped pacing and looked at my hands.

Everything was useless if I died in the first five minutes.

"Status Window."

Ding.

The translucent blue screen popped up in the air.

Name: Lucien Ashborne

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Race: Human

Affiliation: Imperial Academy / House Ashborne

Stats

• Strength: 24

• Agility: 13 (+50*)

• Endurance: 9

• Intelligence: 21

• Mana: 14

• Charm: 63

Skills

• Mana Control Lv. 5 ↑

• Horse Riding Lv. 3 ↑

• Basic Etiquette Lv. 4

• Intimidation Lv. 6 ↑

• Cooking Lv. 8 ↑

• Marksmanship Lv. 7 ↑

• Detection Lv. 7 ↑

• Movement Arts Lv. 6

• Culinary Creator (Passive)

Points Remaining: 6,300

_____

The reward from the Eldric incident and the accumulated daily bonuses. It was the most I had ever held at once.

"Time to go shopping."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.