The Greatest Estate Designer - Chapter 405
A top-class estate designer – Episode 406
Episode 406. Side story: 8 years later (1)
‘Lord Lloyd is truly pitiful.’
The silver-haired knight, Javier, thought to himself.
As he thought about it, a small chuckle escaped his lips.
‘At this rate, he’ll probably become the weakest of the family.’
It wasn’t like he was exaggerating.
The good-for-nothing he had served.
Kim Soo-ho, who had been brought over from another dimension.
The duke of the Western Frontier, Lloyd Frontera.
He had once been a Sword Master.
He had even led the expedition to conquer Hell.
However, after his final battle with the King of Hell, he lost his body.
He had returned to the body of Kim Soo-ho in Seoul, South Korea.
As a result, he had lost both his mana heart and his circle.
‘I thought he would recover his level quickly.’
At the time, that was what he had expected.
But what was the result?
A big fat zero.
‘I never thought his growth would be so slow.’
Usually, when someone who had reached a high level fell, it was relatively easy for them to regain their strength.
They tended to show a much faster growth rate than others.
However, Lloyd, who had returned to Kim Soo-ho’s body, was different.
‘He’s the dumbest of the dumb.’
No matter how hard he trained.
No matter how much Queen Alicia pushed him every day.
There was no noticeable improvement.
As a result, even after 8 years had passed.
Lloyd was still stuck as a low-level Sword Expert.
‘I think he said he was saving his RP to use it all at once when he gets Sword Master Syndrome later on…….’
But what the heck was RP anyway?
He still thought he was quite an odd person.
But that was when it happened.
“Javier, Uncle!”
A cheerful voice called out to him.
The chick-like call broke Javier’s train of thought.
He looked up.
He didn’t really need to look very far.
A little black-haired girl had already come running up to him.
“Javier, Uncle! I just succeeded in pew pew pew! Did you see?”
“Yes. I saw it, Princess.”
“Then praise me!”
“You did very well, Princess.”
Javier’s strong hand gently patted the child’s head.
A satisfied smile bloomed across the child’s face.
“Hehehe! Praise. Praise!”
What was she so happy about?
The child ran off again like a puppy that had just been praised.
She ran to the training hall and started to play with a wooden sword with the face mentioned above.
But her gestures were not ordinary.
No, it was not a joke.
She was only six years old now.
She will be celebrating her seventh birthday in a few days.
Her level had already surpassed that of a low-level sword expert.
“That talent is… amazing.”
Princess Charlotte Fronterra Magenta.
A child born to King Alicia and Lord Lloyd.
Maybe the child takes after her mother.
It must be because she inherited King Alicia’s talent.
As the child’s swordsmanship teacher guessed, if she continued at this rate, she would surely surpass her father, Lloyd, within three years.
“Fortunately, she’s not like Lord Lloyd.”
No, in some ways, the child sometimes resembled Lloyd.
Just like this moment.
“But why are you sweating again?”
“Yes?”
“Why didn’t you keep your promise about sweating?”
Charlotte, who had just finished playing with her swordsmanship, came back and asked.
Javier tilted his head inwardly.
“Promise? What are you talking about?”
“You said that if I succeeded in doing ‘Slash, Slash, Hook’, you would give me a gift.”
“No way.”
“Really.”
“No, I’m not denying the promise, but.”
“Then?”
“Did you remember that promise?”
“Yes!”
Charlotte nodded her little head vigorously.
“When I was three years old, in my first class, when you gave me my first wooden sword, you showed me how to do ‘Slash, Slash, Hook’. You said that if I succeeded, you would give me a present.”
“….”
“So I just succeeded.”
“….”
“But Javier, you just praised me and tried to move on.”
“….”
No way.
She asked me to compliment her earlier.
Was that to see if I would keep my end of the bargain?
To see if I remembered the old promise?
“….”
Javier felt a chill down his spine for a moment.
At times like this, this child really looks like Lloyd.
She doesn’t care much about things that don’t concern her.
She is thorough when it comes to her own interests.
She never wants to lose.
She is surprisingly attached to coins and small rewards.
It felt like he was watching a miniature version of Lloyd during his days of service.
‘Phew.’
“Hoo.”
“Ppong’s Gyeong, Bangul’s Gyeong, Hamang’s Gyeong, and Kkoming’s Gyeong are all Phantasms that were summoned by His Majesty. Bibong’s Gyeong is an exception, but even he seems to have been summoned by someone a long time ago. But I’m sorry, I don’t have the ability to summon them.”
“Beads Light, Bubble Light, or Hope Light, Cumming Light, they’re all Phantasms that Your Grace summoned. Maybe Bibong Light is the exception, but it seems that someone summoned it a long time ago. I’m sorry, but I don’t have the ability to summon them.”
“….Boohoo.”
“I apologize. Instead, um, how about this?”
“What is it?”
The child’s eyes, which were about to fill with disappointment, sparkled again.
Harvey smiled at the sight of her eyes looking at him.
“In three days, it will be the princess’s seventh birthday.”
“So?”
“How about you ask His Grace for it as a birthday present?”
“To Papa? A Phantasma as a birthday present?”
“Yes. I’m sure he’ll grant it. Of course, he’ll be able to do it.”
That’s probably true.
If it’s Lloyd, he’ll summon a Phantasma or two as a birthday present for his daughter. Instead, he might ask his six-year-old daughter to write a contract or a memorandum.
‘Lord Lloyd would be the one to do that. He’s not the kind of person who would give a Phantasma for free, even if it’s a birthday present.’
Perhaps he will ask for a 20 percent reduction in his allowance or a kiss on the cheek every day.
‘He’s the kind of person who would do that, Lord Lloyd.’
However, the child before him was no pushover either.
She was the daughter of Lloyd, the penny-pincher, after all.
Perhaps she will show her negotiating skills that transcend her age.
Harvey’s expectations(?) were spot on.
“Papa!”
An hour later, at the end of the swordsmanship lesson.
Lloyd came to the training ground.
Princess Charlotte ran towards him, giggling.
She jumped into her father’s arms.
“I succeeded in today!”
“Haha, did you?”
“Yes! But Harvey the Sweat didn’t give me a present!”
“Hahaha, did he?”
“Yes! That’s why Harvey the Sweat says that Papa will give me a present instead!”
“Hohoho, is that right?”
Creepy!
Lloyd looked at him with flounder eyes.
Harvey just shrugged his shoulders with an innocent face.
And he watched the rare showdown between father and daughter.
“So, Papa, my birthday is coming up soon?”
“Yes, so?”
“Birthday present.”
“What kind of present?”
“A Phantasma.”
“Isn’t that expensive?”
“How much?”
“More expensive than this guy?”
Lloyd said ‘this guy’ and pointed at Javier.
Javier’s eyebrows twitched.
But Lloyd remained silent.
“Just kidding. Anyway, Phantasms are very expensive. Is that okay?”
“Okay. How expensive?”
“Hmm, 600 kisses on the cheek?”
“Can I pay in installments?”
“No. It’s a lump sum.”
“That’s a problem. My lips will burst.”
“Oh, then I can’t do it. Should I let you pay in installments?”
“Yes!”
“As long as possible?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Then let’s make it a 600-day installment plan with one kiss on the cheek every day. How about that?”
“Yes, okay!”
“But you know what? There’s interest on installments.”
“How much?”
“Hmm, I’ll give you a big discount. 10 percent. So that’s an additional 60.”
“……That’s too much.”
“Don’t you like it? Hmm, don’t say no.”
“No, I don’t hate it.”
“Then?”
“Daddy, if you don’t shave, your lips will be hot.”
“Shave every day? Don’t miss a day?”
“Yes!”
“Huh, okay, okay. Then it’s decided.”
“Decided!”
“Okay, now that it’s decided, what should we do?”
“Contract!”
“That’s right. That’s what our daughter is.”
Lloyd and Charlotte, the father and daughter, wrote a contract on the spot and even stamped it with a seal.
Javier laughed to himself at the sight.
He approached Lloyd and asked, “Lord Lloyd, are you okay?”
“Well, I’d be happy if she likes the Phantasma.”
“I’m sure she will. Well, we’ll be going now. We’ll finish the class.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Yes. Please take care.”
Lloyd left the training ground with his daughter and Javier seeing him off.
And inwardly, he clenched his fist.
‘……Nice.’
I got it, 660 kisses on the cheek.
That means I don’t have to worry for at least the next two years.
‘It’s been a little hard to get kisses on the cheek lately, so this is a relief.’
It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
He quickened his pace with a light heart.
Since he had already made a promise.
He thought he would go ahead and pick out a Phantasma.
‘I don’t know what kind of Phantasma will come out. Should I just go with the premium random draw? Or should I specify the conditions to match her tastes as much as possible? That would be better. I have enough RP anyway.’
8 years ago.
After the decisive battle with the Hell King.
The RP he had when he returned from Seoul was still there.
But now?
As time passed, it had accumulated more than before.
Due to the nature of the system, it was impossible to transfer a Phantasma to someone else, so the draw failed. Lloyd told his daughter that he could not give her a Phantasma and suggested changing her birthday present to something else, but Charlotte began to cry. Lloyd tried to appease his daughter, but failed, and that night he vowed to his wife that he would fight. However, Charlotte accidentally discovered the ability to summon a Phantasma through a system message.
Thanks to that, the RP I now had was a whopping 27,595.
‘In case I ever become an Advanced Sword Expert, I’ve been saving this up to skip straight to Sword Master in one go… Hmm, well, I guess there might come a day when I reach that level.’
It was RP that I had been saving up just in case.
But now, there were hardly any more times when I would fight with a shovel and a sword.
I hadn’t faced any life-threatening crises to overcome, either.
As a result, my level recovery had slowed down.
Still, I thought it didn’t matter.
‘My wife is protecting me, so what’s there to worry about?’
Besides, wasn’t my wife the strongest Sword Master in the world, aside from Habiel?
So, I might as well stop saving my RP and use it.
I’ll properly summon a new phantom beast for the first time in ages.
Determined, Lloyd went inside the royal palace.
He went to a cozy break room that was prepared just for him and the king.
There, he took a deep breath and opened the system window.
[Premium Random Summon]
[Invest a little more RP to greatly increase the probability of summoning a phantom beast with the ability that the summoner desires.]
[Conditional Summon Cost (2nd time) = 1,200 RP]
[Currently held RP: 27,595]
[Would you like to perform a conditional random summon?]
[YES / NO]
‘Of course, yes.’
Lloyd excitedly selected the ‘YES’ button.
But that was the moment.
Ding-dong!
[Random summon execution failed.]
‘Huh?’
An unexpected message popped up.
[Phantom beasts are beings that receive the call of the world solely for you. However, you are now performing a random summon with the intention of transferring it to someone else, not for the purpose of keeping it by your side as your partner. Therefore, we inform you that your attempt, which goes against the basic purpose of random summoning, has ended in failure.]
‘Wow.’
It was unexpected.
Lloyd asked, feeling bewildered.
‘Excuse me, but what if I have it guard my daughter? It’s not for someone else, it’s for my daughter, but that’s not allowed either?’
[Impossible.]
A curt reply came back immediately.
‘Ugh.’
Lloyd’s mouth tasted bitter.
If the system message said it was impossible, then it really was impossible.
This was something that no amount of quick thinking or tricks could overcome.
Lloyd, who knew this fact from countless experiences, made a quick judgment.
‘Crap. I guess I’ll just have to admit it.’
I had been happy because I had finally gotten a lot of cheek kisses from my daughter.
It looked like I would have to send a breach of contract notice for this one.
‘Shoot. How am I supposed to tell her without hurting her feelings? What should I ask for as a penalty fee for contract termination?’
He resumed walking briskly.
Stuff like this should be disclosed as early as possible.
That way, she’d be less disappointed.
Lost in thought, he made his way back to the training ground.
Fortunately, his daughter and Javier were there, finishing up their lesson.
He approached his daughter with a sincere look of apology.
“Um, my dear daughter?”
“Yes, Papa!”
“I’m sorry, but, uhm, about that contract we made earlier.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t think I can keep it.”
“Huh?”
“The griffin egg will come later.”
“Huh?”
“Not now, but laaaater.”
“…….”
His daughter’s lower lip began to quiver.
Lloyd spoke with a conflicted heart.
“So I think we should change your birthday present to something else this year. Something prettier and cuter than a griffin egg. Okay?”
“…….”
His daughter’s big eyes instantly filled with tears.
Lloyd’s heart sank.
This was an emergency.
“O-Oh, uhm, my dear daughter? Well, you see…….”
It started then.
In a voice filled with cold sweat.
Trying his best to ease his daughter’s disappointment.
Lloyd spent the rest of the day trying to appease his young daughter.
Yet he still couldn’t stop her from pouting.
‘Jeez. Well, I’ll just have to try again tomorrow.’
That night.
Before falling asleep next to his wife.
Lloyd vowed to himself to keep fighting.
He would win his daughter’s heart tomorrow, no matter what.
He would even take her on a carriage ride to the outskirts of the kingdom for a picnic.
That was why he had no idea.
At that very moment when he was vowing to fight on tomorrow.
That his six-year-old daughter.
Had just accidentally started using an ability she’d naturally possessed since birth for the first time.
It was none other than…….
Ding-dong!
[Random Griffin Egg Draw]
[You can draw a griffin egg by investing RP.]
[Powerful and unique griffin eggs will provide absolute loyalty to their summoner and offer various abilities.]
[1 Draw = 50 RP]
The little princess, who had woken up in the middle of the night because she needed to pee.
Charlotte Fronterra Magenta’s eyes.
As if by coincidence, the system message began to appear before her.