Chapter 13 : The Promise

"So, you are saying that the new dungeon that appeared was at least at S Rank, and you want us to guard it until the scouts arrive?" the young boy asked the young lady who is sitting at the opposite side of him.

"That is correct, Lord Gregorios. I apologize for asking this impossible thing right after asking the permission to open the Adventurers' Guild branch in this town," the young lady bowed her head and apologized to the young boy who is at least half her age.

"It's okay, raise your head. I would like to ask you the reason why you are asking for help," the Lord of the Gregorios family asked her. "She is one of the people I have a favorable impression of outside my summons, Cecelia and Keith. I wish I could help her," he thought.

"The thing is the monsters are threatening to come out from the dungeon and even though I hate to admit it, I cannot guard the entrance alone," she answered with her normally expressionless face. "Uwahh… I want to rest too! Chief! When are you sending the reinforcement?! Wahh!!!" she silently cried.

"Aria, when will Sir Gurguit come back?" he asked the mature woman who is sitting beside him.

"He will be back in three days, Urien," she replied.

"And there you get it, Miss Vina. I will send Sir Gurguit and his troop to guard the dungeon when he comes back," he looks at her and added, "I will be coming to the Adventurers' Guild with my aunt this evening to make the Adventurer Cards for ourselves. I would like you to prepare for that just in case."

"I understand. Thank you for accepting my unreasonable request, Lord Gregorios," she replied with a stoic face. "Thank god, this Dragon Slayer is a kind lord. No thanks to you, Chief! Now, I can at least have some resting time," she thought.

And like usual, she is having a panic attack because of the woman sitting beside the Lord. She could not remember how she survived the meeting between the two of them. Those five minutes were the longest five minutes of her life.

[Level: ???]

[Danger Level: RUN]

That was what she saw when the two of them started the meeting in this room. And for an unknown reason, that lady is staring daggers at her. And then, the [Danger Level] changed after the Lord came into the room.

[Level: ???]

[Danger Level: Friendly]

There was a single thought in her mind, "Wut?" How can a person's mind change that quickly? At first, she was about to get butchered by the lady in front of her. And the next minute, she got a friendly smile from her. That did not make any sense! Good thing she had learned the art of stone face to deal with her chief.

"You can just call me 'Urien' like others, you know?" the boy asked her.

It was the first time her stoic face cracks. "Is that really okay? No matter how much the Adventurers' Guild influence is huge, you are still the Lord of this territory, and we are basically your subordinates," she asked as if she was making sure.

"Sure, go ahead. And Aria, no glaring at the lady. I gave her my permission," he gave his permission and chided the woman beside him for glaring at the Guild Master.

"Then… Lord Urien," the girl said while nodding her head.

"Well, that is fine too. I will leave my people in your care, Miss Vina," the boy nodded, stood up, and held out his hand for a handshake.

"I will also be in your care, Lord Urien," she also stands up and shakes the hand offered to her.

"Then, I will be taking my leave now. And again, thank you for giving us your help, Lord Urien," she puts her right hand on the center of her chest and briefly bows her head.

"No worries! Luna, please guide her toward the gate please," the boy told his maid who suddenly appeared in the room.

"At once, Master," she bowed a little and proceeded to do her job.

Urien's POV

With the meeting is over, I plop myself back onto the chair I was sitting on.

"Are you sure, Urien? Giving out our manpower to help the Adventurers' Guild," Aria asked me.

"I am sure, Aria. If the monsters from the dungeon were to come out when I am away, things will get messy. With Macha is patrolling the territory while Gurguit is scouting the Lilith Empire, our territory is basically defenseless. Not that I do not trust the knights left behind here, but they lack the leader I could count on," I replied.

"I can lead the troops too, you know?" she asked me. Nope, nope, I would rather grab the tiger's tail than letting her lead the troop.

"No, you are to continue your work as my substitute when I go to Yubel's coming of age ceremony. I will be leaving for the ceremony after resting here for a week," I denied her request to lead the troop.

I mean, letting the infamous Lion King lead the *might* looks like a good idea. But dealing with the political side when she went and intrude on others' territories just to make my territory larger does not worth it. Oh yea, I can totally see her invading others' territories just to make me happy.

She became a little disheartened because of my reply. "I see, but nonetheless, I will be bathing together with you tonight," her expression immediately brightens again.

"Urgh… I think we cannot do that tonight. I need to go to show my aunt around the territory," I sheepishly informed her earning a heartbroken stare from her.

"Wait… your aunt? I thought your parents have no siblings," she kept on staring at me.

"Me too. That is also the reason why I went to the capital city in haste. Delfina informed me that she had found my aunt," I told her.

"Is that so? Then, I think congratulation is in order, Urien," she told me with a sad smile. Why is she having a sad smile? Oh…

"Don't worry, Aria," I stand up and pat her head, "Nobody will take your place," I smile at her.

"Of course! Nobody will take my place as your mother!" she immediately cheered up. Sigh, why did her character change so much? From being a goddess who cannot feel any human emotions to a normal Heroic Spirit who has a son complex. I wonder what will Mo-chan say after seeing his/her father acting trying her best to become my mother.

Now that I had finished talking with Aria, I said goodbye and walked back to my room. On my way back, I thought back to the meeting I had with the Guild Master.

"In order to protect the people inside my territory," I muttered. Thinking about it makes me laugh a little. Of course, I will need to help her in order to keep my people safe. After all, it was the promise I made with 'him'.

Who is this person I made my promise with, you ask? Well, it is nothing important. I mean… he is just Star King Kirito after all. The edgiest version of the Edgelord Kirito himself. Nothing important.

What? Did you really think that someone who has zero experience in managing the territory can just sit down on the chair and start managing the territory? Wrong! We need to learn from someone who has experience in it! And I have nobody I can trust at that time. Gurguit is absolutely useless at managing the territory and Luna is… well… Luna.

So, the one who taught me how to manage my territory was Star King Kirito who has experience managing his planet for over 200 years. What? You want to know how I met him? It was actually not that complicated. He hid some of his soul in the <Night Sky Sword> I got from the gacha.

Flashback to 5 years old Urien,

It was the night before I summoned Delfina from <Random Character Summon Ticket>. That night, I forgot to put <Night Sky Sword> back into the <Inventory> before sleeping.

When I fell asleep, I saw a black-haired young man sitting on the most expensive and the most beautiful throne I had ever seen.

"Yo!" he waved his hand at me.

I stared at him with a deadpan expression. "Oh boy, why is the actual Jesus here?" I asked to particularly nobody.

"How harsh of you, Urien. I am not Kira Yamato to be called a Jesus, you know? I am not that powerful," he smiles warily.

"Then, what are you, a leader who had conquered a new star, is doing here?" I asked.

"I… think I might have sealed some of my «Fluctlight» in my sword," he replied.

"Sigh… seriously?" I groan.

"Yes, we are serious," another voice rang out from my behind.

"I am serious. What are you also doing here, Star Queen Asuna?" I asked the newcomer. Yes, she is Star Queen Asuna who is still wearing the armor of Stacia, the Goddess of Creation.

Source is from here

"Now, now, take it easy, will you?" Kirito calms me down. Damn you harem protag, trying to calm me down with his charisma.

"Sigh… fine, now tell me why you are here? If my knowledge is correct, the two of you got tired after living for 170 years and went into hiding for 30 years. So, why?" I asked after creating a chair for myself. This is my mindscape after all.

"You can say that a hunch of mine," he smiles. Damn this bishounen, your charisma won't be effective on me. I am having a hard time because of Gurguit's charismatic smile to make me run more laps around the mansion.

I just stare at him. His 'hunch' is not the single reason why he added his and Asuna's «Fluctlight» in <Night Sky Sword>. But from that look and the smile of his, I am sure I won't be able to get answers from him.

"What do you want?" I asked him with a glare.

"You do know that even Yui is older than you in terms of physical age, yes?" he asked me with his usual cheeky grin. He means my glare looks cute compared to his daughter whose physical age looks like 14 years old. What do you expect from a 5 years old, dammit?

"Yes, yes, I know. What –," just as I was about to continue my interrogation, Asuna created a table between me, and Kirito then placed a plate containing sandwiches on it.

I immediately grabbed it and started eating it as I knew exactly how famous Asuna's sandwich is. And I am not ashamed to stuff it into my mouth like a chipmunk. And holy moly, it tastes heavenly!

"I hope you like it," Asuna smiles and sits beside Kirito. I could do nothing but nod my head repeatedly.

"Well, the two of us added the copy of our «Fluctlight» in the sword because I had a hunch that our help will be needed someday," Asuna informed me.

"So… it is all because of a hunch?" I asked them as if they are idiots.

"Yes, and we are not idiots. Please don't look at us like that," Kirito chimed in.

"What now?"

"With too much in our hands, we are thinking about teaching you how to rule your territory. You don't have any experiences in it, do you?" Asuna is the one who let me know their idea.

I blinked… and blinked again. This is pretty convenient for me. I am currently having a hard time managing the paperwork. I was just a normal college student back in my previous life. I didn't learn anything about managing the territory.

"Sure, thank you. I will be taking up your offer," I stand up and bowed 90 degrees at them. They will now become my teachers so, showing them the respect they deserved is not wrong.

It was the start of our teachers and student relationship. Kirito taught me how to rule the territory properly and how to do the paperwork. And as for Asuna… she taught me how to make my favorite sandwich. The harem protag also taught me how to use Aincrad Style like how he taught Eugeo. As for Asuna, she taught me how to use «Mother's Rosario».

Yes, I know how to use Aincrad Sword Skills. No, I am not using those. The reason? Well, I am too lazy to train it in the real world too. I might train it someday though.

It was in my 7th year of age. The night after I had my first blood, killing the underlings who misused my funding,

"How are you faring, Urien?" Kirito asked me.

"I am not fine, teacher. Killing… it makes me feel uncomfortable," I answered.

"I know that feeling," he pats my head. "You should know how I felt when I killed 2 LC (Laughing Coffin) members," he continued.

"But at that time, you were fighting to protect the normal players. But for me, I killed them because they misused my money," I replied.

"That is where you are wrong, dear student," Asuna chimed in. "In my eyes, you are just trying to protect your territory and the people in it," she continued.

"What?" I am confused right now. "What is the relationship between me killing them because they misused my money and protecting the people inside the territory?" I asked.

"We get to face these kinds of people a lot, Urien. I mean, a lot when the two of us take part as members of the Human Unification Council. Don't worry, do what you think you are correct. We will watch over you from here," Kirito gave me a reassuring smile.

"Just promise me that you will protect the people in your territory. You are not the ruler without the people inside your territory," he continues. Wow, they are a lot more mature than I remembered them from the Light Novel. I guess living for 200 years will make them mature after all.

And that promise I made with Kirito; I will never forget it.

It went on like that and I exchanged this sword with the girl I met in the cave for the most beautiful sword I had ever seen. Sorry teachers, the two of you will be missed. But this beauty takes priority.

Back to the present,

"Yes, that was how it went like. I was trained how to become a ruler by them. And I kept my promise I had made with him. I stopped the monster stampede from coming near the town, I stopped the overgrown lizard before coming to the town, and now, I had ordered Gurguit to guard the dungeon," I muttered. Now that I think about it, I wonder how that princess doing with those two.

3rd POV

A young girl is sleeping on the bed with injuries covering her body. But inside her mindscape, "Hah… Hah…" she is panting with short breath.

"You should stop now, Azalia. Asuna is waiting for you to teach you how to rule the Kingdom," the black-haired boy told the girl who still has determination in her eyes.

"I know you are frustrated because that man beat both of you and your friend. But you are alive now, aren't you?" Asuna told her from beside.

"Yes, teacher. But if it wasn't for Urien's knight, the two of us might be dead already," she replied.

"Just… get some rest, okay?" Asuna looks at her student worriedly.

"I will, teacher," Azalia nodded and fell asleep inside her mindscape immediately.

"How can one even sleep inside her mindscape?" Kirito asked his wife.

"I don't know that myself. But… we should not make the same mistake as we did back to Urien," she nodded.

What was the mistake she was talking about? Well, let us rewind back to the time Urien simp over the new sword and forgot about the old sword.

Inside the sword, we can hear Kirito's screaming, "Fuck! We forgot to teach him about politics!"