Capítulo 2: Codes

Jerman, according to Bell's memories, was a loyal servant to the Agnus family. He's been serving the family since he was three years old.

Not only was he born into the Facold family, a bloodline of servants loyal to the Agnus, but he was also personally trained by Master Omi, a samurai from the East who helped resolve the civil war in his country.

Around the same age as Bell, it was interesting to see how mature he was compared to the young master of the family.

I wasn't surprised however because one was raised to become a servant and bodyguard while the other was spoiled and pampered. But that didn't make it any less interesting.

I was curious about how Jerman felt about the young master he was serving after the crimes he had committed.

"Jerman, follow me," I said. He was waiting by the door, guarding it along with what looked like a hundred other guards.

"Yes, young master," without hesitation he responded, bowing slightly, before matching his steps with mine. He didn't even question why he was being ordered to follow me, he simply accepted it.

I couldn't read his face nor did his voice show any sign of negative feelings.

'I guess when you're trained to become a living weapon, you also learn to hide any and all emotions.'

As we got into the bulletproof vehicle, I obviously sat in the back while Jerman got into the front and began driving me towards my desired destination.

"Jerman," I called his name after two minutes into the car ride.

"Yes, young master?"

I wanted to test him a little bit more. His loyalty meant that he'd probably take a bullet for me but that didn't mean it reflected his personal feelings towards me, or rather Bell.

"Do you believe what they're saying about me?" I asked him.

I looked at the reflection in the mirror to see if his face would twitch but nope. Not a single reaction.

"I believe in nothing but listening to my instructions," he responded. "There's no need for me to have my own personal opinion."

It sounded like a safe answer but if you listened closely, it implied that he actively chose to put aside his opinions about Bell's crime and allowed his loyalty to reign supreme in his mind.

I smirked at the layers of his answer.

It seems that Jerman was a man whose loyalty didn't blind him from seeing the truth; although his loyalty did mean that he would choose to ignore the truth if it meant that it was going to get in the way of his work.

I liked it. It was a shame that the original Bell didn't favor Jerman for some reason.

Jerman's loyalty to the family was probably second to none.

"One day, everyone will understand my actions, including you Jerman. If you're as loyal to the family as you claim to be, then have faith and await good news. I'll be sure to redeem the family's name."

As expected, zero reaction from Jerman but I knew deep down that he was hoping my words would be the truth.

It'd help justify his dying loyalty to the family.

On the smooth car ride where I didn't feel a single bump on the road, I happened to fall asleep because of how relaxing it was.

"We're here, young master," said Jerman, gently shaking my shoulder.

Yawning, I got out of the car and stretched.

We were just outside a forest and instead of questioning what we were doing there, Jerman stood behind me and patiently waited.

As I began walking into the woods, he followed closely behind me.

I still remembered everything the shitty god wrote in order to describe the journey to get to the location of the particular code I was heading to acquire.

"Look for the tree that is choking another," was the first description on the piece of paper the main protagonist miraculously found in a pawnshop.

'Who the fuck sells a random piece of paper at a pawnshop?'

"Between the trees is a rock in the shape of an arrowhead. Follow the trajectory of the arrow until you reach a dead-end."

I followed the direction pointed out by the rock and found myself facing a tree after three minutes of walking.

"From the line formed from the arrowhead, follow the other line to your left that forms a perfect right angle until you find a boulder the size of a human."

This was the hardest part because you had to walk for half an hour to reach the boulder and if you were off by a single inch during the initial step you take, you'll end up somewhere far away.

Looking back at the arrowhead, I formed an imaginary line in my head, and after mentally checking it ten times, I was finally satisfied and began heading forward.

It was a silent walk and regardless of how strange my actions were, Jerman didn't question anything I was doing.

'Yes!' I cheered in my head.

After a long walk, we finally reached the boulder.

I turned to Jerman and told him, "Turn around. No matter what you hear, ignore it all."

"Yes, young master," he responded, nodding his head, before turning his body in the other direction.

I walked over to the boulder and recalled the final line written on the piece of paper.

"Dig your hand into the hole in the middle."

It was a tight fit and I could feel my skin scrapping on the boulder but eventually, I reached the end of the hole and picked up a rock the size of a baseball.

Pulling it out, I looked down at the code that was engraved on the rock.

How come the code didn't transfer onto my body? Well, if it was that easy to acquire the codes then it wouldn't be such a rare thing in this world.

No. What you have to do is solve the code.

But luckily, I was a person who painstakingly read the three long chapters of the main protagonist cracking the meaning of this code that was written in an ancient language.

Out loud, I said, "One day at a time. One step forward. Regardless of the obstacles in my way, I refuse to call it quits. I will achieve my goals."

For such a complex code that required so much work to crack, the answer was rather plain and boring.

Another reason why the novel written by the shitty novel was so boring and lame.

As the code left the surface of the rock and began engraving itself onto my body, specifically on my right leg, it felt as if I was being branded by an iron hotter than the Sun itself.

Regardless of the unbearable screams and all the noises I was making, I was satisfied to see that not once did Jerman disobey my order.

As the burning sensation cooled off, I threw the rock away as it was useless now.

I walked over to Jerman and told him, "Let's head back. We have more places to get to before the day is over."

Without questioning what he heard, he nodded his head and began following closely behind me like a second shadow.

'Bell, you fool,' I shook my head, disappointed. Even as a side villain whose evil was resolved in a single chapter, if you really wanted to be a villain, you had this loyal servant on your side who you could order to do practically whatever you wanted.

I asked Jerman as we reached the car, "If I asked you to kill yourself, would you?"

There was a split second of consideration. Then he answered me, "If that is your order."

I was liking him even more. If he answered me right away, most likely, it would've been a lie. But the fact he had to consider it first meant to me his answer was probably genuine.

Until the Sun disappeared beyond the horizon, the two of us went to the destinations that were in close distance to the Agnus home and I was able to successfully acquire five codes.

Wouldn't that make me overpowered?

Well, no. I have the potential to be as overpowered as the main character of the shitty novel became in the later arcs but because I hadn't completed a single act of fulfilling the oath, these codes engraved on my body were practically useless.

As we crossed the gate, I told Jerman, "That'll be all for the day."

Heading inside, I was greeted by the entire family sitting at the dinner table.

Looking at the time, I understood that they must've been waiting for me for the past half hour because the family always ate at the same time every day.

"You're late," said my older brother, Cyro. Well, he's Bell's older brother but at this moment, he was technically mine as well.

"Sorry. I had some business to attend to," I explained.

"Which is?" asked my little sister, Rubi.

"Nothing a little kid like you need to worry about," I responded, messing up her hair with my hand.

Just like my mother, none of them treated Bell any differently and they believed that the accusations were wrong.

This only served to support my opinion of Bell's role in the novel making no sense because if his family is this supportive on top of being one of, if not the most, powerful family in the country, then why wasn't Bell present in the later arcs?

If Bell was truly a villain that would sexually harass his classmate just because of bumped shoulders then the fact that he had to serve time in jail, wouldn't he commit even worse crimes once he returned to the academy?

If I was alone, I would've cursed the shitty god once again.

"You guys shouldn't have waited," I told them.

"Don't speak nonsense. We will always eat as a family if we can," said Father.

With a smile on my face, I ate dinner while using Bell's memories to insert myself into the conversations as seamlessly as possible.

Once all the plates were empty, a maid quickly cleaned up the table without having to be ordered.

After dinner, the Agnus family always spends a few hours watching a movie or playing some sort of board game.

'How does someone raised in this family suddenly act like a crook whose never been loved in their life before?' I asked with disappointment.

The answer was simple. The writer sucked at writing.

As someone who was originally from Earth, I was rather interested to see a movie that was made in this world.

After two and a half hours, I left and walked into my bedroom with a sense of confusion. If this world was created by the shitty god based on his novel, why was the movie so good?

The writing, pace, characters, everything, all of it was a million times better than what the shitty god wrote in his novel.

"Your own creation is better than you at writing a story," I spoke to the ceiling, shaking my head.

"Fuck you," he responded.

Laughing at his annoyed response, I walked into my personal bathroom to brush my teeth before heading to bed.

I should've been uncomfortable in this world but perhaps because of Bell's memories and the fact that I've read the novel before, I slept better than I ever had before.