บท 10: help me kill the system administrator

The most powerful man in the world.

That didn't just mean being the most powerful man in the Karavan empire, it also meant being the most powerful man among all the other kingdoms and empires on this planet. The most powerful man in all of Thrae. That was quite the big promise to make.

"How about we take a seat? This dull void is so boring."

Suddenly, the void with the floating screens, was transformed into a beautiful garden with a table set for two in the middle.

'He can do that?'

Karavan began walking towards the table and Cassius simply followed behind him.

'I am not interested in his offer, but I do need to find out more information about this artifact.' Cassius thought.

Cassius knew better than to crave power. His whole life, the fight for power around him was never ending. There was this constant competition going on regarding who would be the most powerful person in the Karavan empire. If he craved power, that would make him no different from his parents whom he disdained.

His parents never stopped fighting for power, they even brought their innocent young son into their whole dilemma.

'I just want to live peacefully.' Cassius placed his hand over his excited heart in an attempt to calm it down.

Maybe his heart was racing due to the surprise of the void suddenly being turned into a garden.

Karavan smiled as he sat down on the chair and pointed his arm at a chair to the opposite end gesturing for Cassius to sit down.

Cassius looked at the chair he was pointing at, and cautiously sat down on the chair, fearing that it might be an illusion, but it wasn't.

'It's a real chair.' he thought. 'How? Is the rest of the garden real too?'

As if reading his mind, Karavan answered, "I can control everything inside this place. This realm belongs to me."

"Then, were you the one who placed all those screens floating around?" Cassius asked.

Karavan blushed, looking embarrassed. "Oh, that... What can I say? It gets boring here sometimes, so I like to look back at the past. That wasn't something a child like you should see, though. "

"...Are you really emperor Karavan?" without thinking, Cassius asked the question that's been on his mind this whole time.

"Emperor? Oh yeah, I suppose I was an emperor for a short while."

'He forgot? This man keeps getting more suspicious.' Cassius thought. If he was really Karavan, how could he forget something like that?

"It's hard to keep track after so many lives." He chuckled.

"So many?" Cassius asked. How many lives did this guy live?

"Yes. 31 lives, to be exact."

Without realizing, Cassius's mouth fell. 31 lives!? How did this guy regress so many times? To Cassius, it felt like a one-in-a-lifetime miracle that he woke up in the body of his younger self. But to this guy, that was basically a normal occurrence just like any other day.

"Ah, actually, I think it was 32." He corrected himself.

"Y-you lost track?" Cassius flinched, he couldn't believe he was talking to a man who was having a hard time remembering how many lives he lived.

"I just forgot to count my last life, that's all. Since In my last life, I didn't even die properly, I just became a system."

"What does that mean?" Cassius still didn't understand what it meant to 'become a system'.

was becoming a system even possible?

"It means I need your help, Cassius. Of course, I'm not asking for free, I'm willing to help you in exchange." Karavan answered. Not that Cassius considered it a proper answer.

"Why me?" Cassius asked, since it didn't seem like he would answer his other questions.

"Well, for one, the artifact accepted you. But it's also because you remind of myself. I never had a childhood since I was in a coma til I was 16, but I imagine that I would have looked similar to you in my childhood." Karavan smiled softly.

'Yeah, I'm guessing you would. After all, you look identical to me in my adulthood.' Cassius thought, staring intently at Karavan. 'It is kind of bothersome how this guy looks just like me. It's like i'm looking in the mirror.'

The purple eyes, the black hair, the nose, the lips, the ears. The man was identical to him except for his sense of style.

"You can't choose someone just because they look like you." Cassius said. "Besides, why do you keep giving vague answers?"

Cassius had roughly figured out Karavan's personality by now, so he decided to be bolder and more straight forward with his questions. 'For whatever reason, this man needs me.'

Karavan bit his lip, "I'm sorry. I can't tell you too much right now."

'So, In other words, he doesn't trust me?' Cassius thought, ' Well, At least he's not stupid.'

"Fine." Cassius said, "Can you atleast tell me what it is that you want from me?"

For a moment, there was silence.

'Is he going to stay silent for a few minutes again?'

Thankfully, Karavan spoke after a few seconds.

"Help me kill the system administrator, Cassius."