Cthulhu Gonfalon

That night, Romon had a dream.

In his dream, he went back to his youth and happened to meet a rich guy in a casino. This rich guy was the illegitimate son of a viscount. His father was seriously ill now, so he was going back to compete for the inheritance. Upon learning that, Romon killed this rich guy, then spent almost all of his fortune on finding an advanced mage to hold a blood inheritance ceremony that could help him inherit the blood of the rich guy’s family. Then with this proof of his identity, he went to the Geerteng Viscount Hill after the viscount died.

Everything went smoothly for him, since the other heir was so abhorrent that she wasn’t competitive at all. Romon made various promises to the aristocrats in the surrounding territories to gain their support. Soon, the situation was stabilized.

At last, he inherited the title of earl successfully and became the new viscount, as well as the Hill Lord of Geerteng Hill.

After the coronation, he sat on the throne in the meeting hall and looked around. This hall wasn’t magnificent or luxurious, but it was large enough at least. Then he couldn’t help laughing.

“Great! But it’s just a dream. What a pity!”

“Oh? How do you know it’s a dream?” Sui Xiong showed up in the form of a jellyfish, floating in front of Romon.

Romon looked at him, a bit scared, but not surprised at all.

“I don’t know, but I’ve had this dream many times over the decades.”

Upon hearing that, Sui Xiong knew the reason and couldn’t help laughing, and then said, “I didn’t expect that you would take things that happened decades ago to heart so much. Do you still want to be a Hill Lord?”

Romon was silent for a while and answered, “No, I don’t.”

“Then why do you still have dreams like this?” Sui Xiong asked curiously. “If you didn’t have such ideas, I wouldn’t be able to make you have such a dream unless I used a special spell.”

Romon smiled bitterly. “Actually, I just feel regretful.”

“For what?”

“That I didn’t take the opportunity to find powerful support for myself!” Romon shook his head and said with a sigh, “At that time, if I had directly knelt to Miss Anna and respected her as the Hill Lord of Geerteng Hill, I could have been one of her subordinates. Then I might have been a big man respected by others right now, and I might even have been one of the high-ranking officials of the Church of Void Mask.”

Sui Xiong thought about it carefully and then nodded. “It might have been possible…”

Romon sighed deeply and said with a bitter smile, “It was all because of my bad decision at that time. Such a good opportunity was sent to me, perhaps the best one of my life, but I just messed it up!”

“But it was dangerous, too.” Sui Xiong couldn’t help comforting him. “At that time, you were disguised as the illegitimate son of Viscount Geerteng. Once you were exposed, you would die.”

Romon didn’t care about that at all. He said casually, “Opportunities always come with danger. The better the opportunity one has, the greater the danger one meets. Over these years, I took many risks, but did I finally seize a good opportunity? Never! As a result, up until now, I’m just a tutor to the sixth successor of the earl family. I’m not even a knight!”

Romon opened his hand and asked, “Do you agree that it would have been better for me to take a risk at first?”

“It sounds reasonable. I have nothing to say.”

Romon laughed and asked, “I don’t know who you are, but you have the appearance of Void Mask and showed up in my dream. Are you just coming to chat with me?”

Sui Xiong laughed as well. “I’m not disguising as Void Mask. I am Void Mask.”

“You must be kidding. No Gods would do such a boring thing.”

“Well, that’s what I’m doing. Excuse me.”

Romon was astounded for a moment. He looked at Sui Xiong carefully and asked, “Then, may I ask how you know who supported Miss Anna at that time?”

Sui Xiong was silent for a while and said, “It was me. But I think I made the right choice. She was more suitable than you to be a Hill Lord.”

Without saying a word, Romon jumped down from the throne and knelt down in front of Sui Xiong at once, holding Sui Xiong’s tentacles in his arms.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“I’m hugging your legs!” Romon replied firmly. “I missed the chance to seek support from a God last time. If I let you go this time, my life is over!”

“How could you be so straightforward? What’s more, these are my tentacles, not my legs!” Sui Xiong shouted. “Let them go! Let them go!”

Romon still held onto Sui Xiong’s tentacles tightly and didn’t let him go. He shouted, “Your Majesty Void Mask, please allow me to work for you! I will do whatever you ask me to! Please!”

“Why are you begging in this way? At least you’re a respected teacher now, do you need to do something like this?”

“Of course! Facing such a good chance to become your subordinate, over 99% people in the world would act like this, but they wouldn’t be as determined as I am!”

“How can you be so straightforward…” Sui Xiong felt defeated by this guy, so he waved his tentacles and tried to throw him off.

However, in the world of a dream, a person’s will determined his power. Romon’s will at that moment was so strong that unless Sui Xiong used his Divine Power to beat him back, he wouldn’t be able to shake him off.

Seeing Romon begging like that, Sui Xiong felt sorry to take any violent action. He just tried to throw him away, yet failed. He sighed and persuaded Romon, “Why are you holding my tentacles? Sooner or later, you’ll wake up.”

“So please allow me to work for you! I will work hard. I won’t ask for any benefits from you. Please just allow me to retire at your God’s Kingdom after I die!”

Sui Xiong was surprised at that, and then realized why Romon was doing this. Sui Xiong asked, “Are you doing this because you haven’t believed in any God so far and have nowhere to go after death?”

Romon had an unhappy face, as if he had just eaten something bitter. “I do have a belief. But I’m not devoted and sincere enough that I can go to the God’s Kingdom after death. I could possibly go to hell!”

“Are you begging to work for me just so you won’t go to hell?” Sui Xiong sighed. “How utilitarian you are!”

Romon explained loudly, “I’m sincere in wanting to follow you! You can test me at any time!”

Sui Xiong shook his head. “I trust your sincerity, but you can’t take belief as something that can be traded.”

“Why do you think it’s a trade? I work for you, and you’ll arrange a place for me to retire after I’ve done the best I can. It’s reasonable.”

“It sounds reasonable indeed.”

“Of course! I don’t think I’m asking too much.” Romon saw there was hope, so he said loudly, “I know there are a lot of talents working for you, and I’m not necessarily one of them. But I think I’m still valuable, for I’m willing to sacrifice myself for you at any time, and I’m quite smart. What’s more, I’m powerful. There are few people in Keane City who could defeat me in fighting!”

Hearing that, Sui Xiong hesitated.

What Romon had said was reasonable. He hadn’t requested too much from Sui Xiong. Actually, it was Sui Xiong that could benefit a lot from this deal. As for the personality of Romon—although he had made many mistakes before, he was still young. There would be chances for him to correct his behavior and act the right way. Sui Xiong thought he should give him a chance.

Frankly speaking, Sui Xiong was almost persuaded by Romon.

It was hard to find a real talent, especially people like Romon, who had both ability and courage and were flexible in their skills. Besides, he would be more loyal than others, since he had nowhere to go.

Sui Xiong hesitated for a long time and finally sighed softly.

The next morning, Miramon took Romon to visit Crick.

“This is Mr. Romon, a secret believer of our god,” Miramon introduced. “He’s more powerful than me and good at stratagem. I’m sure he will be a great helper for you.”

Sitting in a wheelchair, Crick was holding a fan of feathers, just like Zhuge Liang. He was surprised for a moment, then looked at Romon.

Romon had a confident smile and bright eyes.

“I’ll do my best to help you stabilize the situation of Keane Hill!” Romon laughed and said, “None of those bad guys who are making dirty plans on your Hill will be able to leave here alive!”

Crick was astounded at that, and his eyes turned bright with delight.