Looking at the fascinated expression on Oliva's face, Lan knew that he had done his job well.
Standing up and dusting off his clothes, he put on that toothy grin again before bowing low and saying, "That's all for now! See you later, little girl!"
She was still spellbound by the tale he had spun, so she couldn't respond right away. A single step turned him into a blur as he sprinted away using his Peak Warrior level Fighter prowess, and by the time she did look up, he was gone.
Standing up, she wailed, "Beggar, beggar, where are you? Finish the story!"
He controlled his laughter as he saw her look around, searching for him, but he had already concealed himself by Shapeshifting into a Divine Chamelion.
The Divine Chameleon was one of those special Godbeasts whose form, itself, contained the power to hide itself perfectly by blending into its surroundings, so he was able to utilize this to full effect.
With a frown, she continued to search, until finally giving up after realizing that he might have scammed her and left without even finishing the story.
Well…that was the whole point.
What would anyone do when they heard a story whose ending they didn't know?
Of course…they would finish it on their own, and as Lan saw the little girl walk into the village with a thoughtful expression on her face, he knew that she was doing just that.
Smiling, he sent the message saying that the first phase of the plan was complete, before walking out from where he had been hiding.
He could have easily gotten a camouflage trinket from the King, but he had declined, as Lan always liked pushing himself.
After the events where he had found himself, thereby activating his Bloodline that was subsequently taken by the King, he had been given all kinds of resources and the freedom to do what he wished. True, he had had to spend a lot of time recovering as the extraction had done a lot of damage, but he really didn't mind as he hadn't even felt a lot of pain in the process.
He had recovered only recently to find a very strange situation on the continent, and he had bided his time, waiting and keeping watch on the Kingdom of Lanthanor.
During his long period of being unconscious, he had thought about everything, and had realised that he was indebted to the man whom he now admired a lot, both for helping him to find his true self and activate his Bloodline which gave him the wonderful power to transform into a lot of amazing forms even though he could not use their powers, and for the resources he had been given which had allowed him to first go back to his birthplace in the slums of the Black Raven Kingdom and change all of the fates of the individuals present there for the better, before creating a plan to do the same for the rest of the Alliance, too.
That was how he had occupied himself for quite some time: he had officially held the position of the Minister(which had been waiting for him when he woke up) in charge of the welfare of the downtrodden, and he had performed his duties perfectly until the point of time when the Church had invaded.
Then, he had considered going out and fighting even though he was weak, but he had controlled himself and watched.
Hence, he had been there, close by, at that final moment when the King had sacrificed himself to make the Kingdom of Axelor break apart from the continent, and he had rushed to the sovereigns at that time to ensure that the man was all right.
They had just recovered their memories, but still, they gave him the answer, which made him thank the Heavens, while the admiration he felt for the King transformed into something even more powerful.
So, when he was called on for a small task where he would have to put his skills of impersonation to use, he had not hesitated to accept.
He had been quite shocked to hear the King's plan, but after a while, he had felt that it was perfect for such a person.
The first phase was to implant the idea of a Godking in an innocent and pure mind, which preferably also belonged to one who was pure at heart.
He had been advised by the Lady Eloise to choose this little girl for this task, and he had agreed, but now, for the second phase, he would have to make the choice himself.
The second phase was, in a way, the opposite of the first- he had to choose someone who had great ambition, and enable them to carry out their wishes, before stepping back and letting the story unfold by itself.
He had been told that it was vital that the person he chose must be someone who would act on their ambition no matter who approached and enabled them, making it so that they were simply setting in motion events that might have occurred even if they hadn't chosen to step in at this juncture.
The second phase was the most important, as the rest would depend on it- after he was done with this part, he would only be able to tweak the situation in minor ways, so it was his duty to ensure that he made the right choice.
Walking around, Lan began to study the various people in the village.
This had been his bread and butter, once- it was only by examining people that he had picked up the expert-level skill of perfectly impersonating anyone just by watching them for a little while, and he knew that this was also probably why he had been chosen for this task. He had the knack of sniffing out the inner thoughts of one simply by their gestures and actions, so he took his time to view each and every individual in the village which had a total population of 300 individuals.
It took a day, as he only had to examine people for a little bit of time to make a judgment on their character. He had found out that this was easy after his Awakening, as it was almost as if something was telling him what he wanted to find out.
This was difficult if one was on the Path of a Fighter or a Mage, but here, almost all the villagers were just normal people. There were only a handful who trained, and even then, they were very weak.
Surprisingly enough, Lan actually found multiple options. It seemed that being closed off did nothing to curb the greedy ambition that was the cause of the ruin of many prestigious Kingdoms in the past of Angaria, and this was definitely good for him, as he had feared that he might not find the right candidate.
After finishing his surveillance of the rest, he focused on these candidates and used trinkets to listen to them all simultaneously.
Finally…it was a conversation between two people which made him take the decision, and right after he did so, he took a step forward and began the second phase.
…
In one of the simple huts in the Village of Eastcliff, two individuals were nursing the bottles in their hands while constantly looking through the windows with expressions of extreme alertness, as if they were afraid that they might be punished if they were caught.
Indeed, that was what they feared, and after the bottles were emptied, they carefully hid them in a concealed hatch on the ground that was covered up by hay.
Letting out a breath only after this was done, one of the men exclaimed, "Damn these rules! Damn that chief! I bet he has an even bigger stash that he drinks from freely every day!"
Both of the men were wearing the same common clothes as almost all the villagers. With no specific color to them, they were coarse, chafing the skin of those who wore them, but in this village, this was one of the things that people got accustomed to quite quickly.
With a sigh, the other man replied, "No. I know him- he would sooner die. That's why he's the chief, and we're the common folk."
The one who had spoken had tanned skin and long hair, and it was obvious from his blister-filled rough hands that he was a farmer who spent most of his day toiling in the fields.
The other was the same, albeit less tanned, which meant that even though he also spent his days doing manual labor, he didn't do so in the sun.
With a snarl, he said, "Yes, and that pisses me off! He gets to dictate the rules because he has no trouble following them! The other day, I smuggled away a little of the food I was cooking, and-"
"You were caught and had your ass 'caressed' with three fresh strikes of the metal rod. Everyone knows."
For a moment, there was silence, and then the other man exploded, shouting, "DAMMIT! I'LL KILL THEM! I'LL-"
"Don't say that word unless you mean it. Sit."
The coldness in the voice of the other man acted like ice that suddenly froze his anger, making him gulp and sit, before saying, "Err…sorry about that."
An awkward silence appeared between them, which was finally broken by that same cold voice, but this time, it had a melancholy tone to it.
"Everyone thinks I killed those people by mistake. That I only happened to be on the spot, and was convicted as there was no one else. But you know the truth, and you've been good. I came to this village a year ago to escape, and convinced everyone, thinking it would be easy to become the leader and do what I wanted. I was wrong. But I'm telling you- my chance will come. And when it does…you'll be my right-hand man as we use these people and conquer village after village. Let's go. It's time for our shift."
Standing up, this man was about to reach for the door, when suddenly, a figure appeared in between them.
He was accompanied by a gust of wind that shut all of the windows and shrouded the room in darkness as the only candle also went out, and before the two startled men could react, a voice which seemed to be coming from all directions at once bombarded them.
"The trinket in your hand will bind those whom you can sway to your side perfectly, allowing you to order them to carry out your wishes. Use it wisely, and take command of this village. Succeed, and you will be given even more rewards, and even more responsibilites. You do not need to know who I am- just show me your worth, and the world will be yours. But be careful- fail, and the trinket will devour you whole. Good luck."
The candle was suddenly lit again, and the windows opened to let in the moonlight which fell on the shocked faces of the two.
The one who had gotten up found a bracelet on his hand, and as he looked at it with awe, he felt it respond to his thoughts.
With awe, he pointed it at the other person in the room, who blinked, and then bowed.
He sent a thought, and the man walked to the door before banging his head on it hard and then falling to the ground, unconscious.
'It-it works!'
As this thought came in his mind, laughter emerged from his mouth, echoing in the room.
After a long time, it stopped, and was followed by a statement that was spoken with glee.
"Yes, I don't care who you are, and I will not fail! Eastcliff is mine! Mine, mine, mine, and mine alone!"