Chương 61: Chapter 62: Samhain Part 2

"I have to ask a question," I said.

"I have a System identification." I nodded towards the bishop, then Priest Lewys, and then said, "You have both told me the System is infallible. If that is the case, then how do I have a history if I am an otherworlder?" The bishop gave off a deep laugh, then took a moment to get his breath back before replying.

"Indeed. The System is infallible."

"Then if it is infallible, how am I an otherworlder if I have a history?" I asked.

"No one said the System couldn't put its own finger on the scale and change things," said the bishop.

"It has its own desires. Desires that we believe you may be in a position to help."

"Wait, what?" I said. Priest Lewys gripped my shoulder again.

"Listen, Mr Jacobson, and that is your name, no matter what it may have once been, it is the name you will go by for the rest of your life on Talamh. The System has a mind of its own. It has desires and goals." He pointed to the other people in the room and continued speaking, "The good bishop and the other gentlemen in this room are part of a secret society, called the The Order of Merlotus, who are trying to wrest power from the elites who have taken control of many parts of the System."

This was a lot to take in. Strangely, I couldn't help but think about the name change. I'd been born David Ashman, but for the last year, I'd just gone along with John Jacobsen. I didn't think about it too much, there was nothing I could do about it after all. I really felt like the name fit who I was here in this world for some unknown reason.

Lewys was still speaking, so I broke out of my thoughts and listened as he said, "We can go more into details another time, and you probably don't know the history of Talamh in depth. But, there were thirteen lines of descendents from Arturos. Eleven of them still remain. Most are involved at the highest levels of the church and the government. The church can control many aspects of the System through the Prime Obelisk in Londinium."

"So you guys, are trying to take power from the Emperor and the descendants of Arturos?" I said.

"Of course not!" boomed the bishop.

"The Emperor, long may he reign, is on our side. He created the System Knights, the foot soldiers of The Order of Merlotus, which has been around for much longer. The Grand Quest gave him the power and levels to put the plan his line has always longed for into motion." His quick outburst caused him to wheeze. After a few deep breaths, he continued on.

"When Arturos and Merlotus abandoned Talamh, there was a fair bit of politicking and infighting. It had to be kept mostly quiet since we were still fighting a war against the other races, but the thirteen male children came together and held a secret summit to decide how the kingdom would be ruled." He took another breath, then said, "Those sons who had become high-level wizards knew that Merlotus had ways to control the System through the Prime Obelisk. They formed the System Church.

Many of the other sons were powerful military commanders, so they were given pieces of the empire and made dukes. The first king was put in charge of the noble counsel and was given Londinium and the first pick of any new territories gained through conquest." He stopped speaking to look at me before saying, "I assume you are following things so far?" I nodded.

"Yes sir."

"Good," he said, then kept on.

"Once things had reached an equilibrium with the other races and most of the fighting was done, this ruling council decided that they no longer needed tens of thousands of high-level fighting men who could cause trouble to their rule. They tightened leveling restrictions on the System." To me, it sounded an awful lot like the System was just a computer program that ran on magic. The bishop said, "Not everyone agreed with these restrictions, and the System itself strenuously disagreed with these restrictions.

It had been given an identity by Merlotus, and it had been given a mandate to help humanity grow in power. Unfortunately, it couldn't stop many of the actions that the nobles took." By this point, the bishop was visibly winded. The man needed to lose some weight. How was he even this unhealthy if he was high level? Priest Lewys could see this, so he asked the bishop if he could finish the story.

"Alright," said Lewys.

"The emperor, as he was now called, strongly disagreed with this course of action, but he was weak. He'd been forced into peace agreements with the other races after all. Since then, the emperors have always harbored a desire to loosen the restrictions on the System. They want to keep expanding and grow more powerful. The Grand Quest, and the success it's had in helping Harold level and create a true power structure of his own out here in the Territories, has finally made it possible to try to enact this change.

He created an active group that he called his System Knights to carry out the wishes of the System."

"I see," I said, and I thought I really did, but I had questions.

"So the System, or the Emperor, brought me over to help it out because I had a way to evolve despite the restrictions? I'm not a fighter though."

"Indeed," said the bishop.

"You being a fighter doesn't matter. You will still soon be a very powerful man, assuming you agree to our terms."

"Of course," I replied. I was gonna agree to whatever the hell they said if it meant I was going to remain free.

"You have no doubt felt your power increase versus your mundane body when you came over. Correct?" asked the bishop.

"Correct," I replied. The bishop continued on.

"You don't have to have a fighting class. Everyone gains the same physical powers no matter their class. Once you evolve, you will truly gain strength. All of your power gains going back to level 1 will automatically double, and each new level will give you four percent the original physical stat boosts."

"At level 21 you will be forty-four percent stronger than you were at level 0. At level 25 you'd be sixty percent stronger than level 0." I knew that was going to happen, but I was still confused about why I would be powerful. I wasn't a Wizard. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"How does that make me a powerhouse though?" I asked.

"I don't have spells or anything. Couldn't Johnstone just drown me in water still?" Johnstone laughed, but it was the bishop who kept speaking.

"At Tier 2, you will gain access to a mana pool even if you wouldn't have had one at your first tier. Of course, the System has brought no one over in the manner they brought you, who wouldn't have already had access to a mana pool. You will likely have a full mana pool and will be able to learn spells. We can give you a Wizard class." Well hell, was I going to be a Battle Mage Farmer? That was not on my bingo card for today.

"This is overwhelming," I said.

"I expected to either end up in chains, or be told to carry on while someone else got all the credit for what happened with the potatoes."

"Oh, someone else will get credit for your potatoes," the bishop replied.

"There is a colony on an island off the coast of Hispania that the emperor controls. That is where all of your potatoes have been shipped. You can continue to grow them here as well, but all of your farmworkers, as well as a few essential workers you'll need on the farm, will be System Knights." I said, "Just so I'm clear, I won't need to be a War Wizard anytime soon right? Or even be expected to be some sort of hero?" Everyone in the room laughed at my words.

Priest Lewys, who seemed to have taken on the role of comforting guide, replied, "No, of course not. We want you to go back to your homestead and grow it and continue leveling. Like the bishop said, you'll keep growing your mana pool and your physical stats by growing your Primary Class. You'll grow the Wizard class through training with Johnstone there next year. If things go according to plan it will be another ten to fifteen years before we are ready to move.

You keep secretly growing potatoes and level up to be ready." I couldn't help but notice my tractor had only been mentioned once so far. Maybe they didn't know anything about it. I didn't see any reason to keep things quiet about it anymore.

"Gentlemen, what about my tractor? Did anyone see it or did Thomas Roberts just mention it? And what is going to happen to him?" The bishop said, "Roberts has been taken care of. That is all I will say. Now as to your tractor, how much can it truly help? Johnstone did mention those strange rows you made. Can it even plow any of your extra ground? I have seen a tractor before. While it plowed more ground than a team of horses, it broke down more often than it ran." I laughed and shook my head.

"You clearly haven't seen it then. Mine is the size of a cabin and could plow a thousand acres in a day. Of course I'm about out of fuel for it. That alchemy class you gave me can help, but it really needs oil to run. I guess the gnomes have some, but otherwise I have to make biofuel from corn. I only get like a pound of the oil I'd need per bushel. My tractor burns hundreds of gallons to plow that thousand acres." The room was silent for a long moment after my description of my tractor.

Finally, the bishop quietly said, "Inconceivable." I struggled to stop a laugh from escaping my lips. As much from emotional exhaustion and hysteria as anything else.

"Can you get me any oil?" I asked. The mayor, Dylan Evans, spoke for the first time. His voice was prim and proper. Very smooth, but not as deep as the bishop's. I was more convinced than ever that they had some sort of skill that made their voices so pleasant to listen to.

"That will be difficult, but maybe not impossible. We certainly won't be able to procure any until next spring at the earliest. Correct Wizard Johnstone?" We all looked at the Trade Guild representative whose eyes had flashed a bright blue, indicating he was looking at some System screen. He nodded and his eyes went back to their normal color, then he spoke, "The emperor does keep some oil for his personal projects. I doubt the oil will be in the form you need though, unless you can burn it directly?"

"No, but I can process it with my alchemy I believe." I said, hope blossoming in my chest. I was not looking forward to figuring out my fuel issues with biodiesel.

"Very good," Johnstone said.

"But, I cannot have it brought over before late next spring. Ebril or Mai most likely."

"That's too late for farming," I said.

"I can get my ground ready to go for the winter with the fuel I have. I'll probably want to burn most of it anyway to keep it from going bad over the winter. I'll have to use horses and workers to plant in the spring though." The mayor nodded after this and said, "Very good. I have control of the work crews. As the bishop said, we will make sure we have all the people you need."

"With this many people around, even if we keep me off to myself, how will we keep things secret from the other nobles?" I asked. The bishop appeared to be done speaking for now, so when he didn't answer, the mayor fielded my question.

"Everyone has their own power structure, and they zealously guard it. I have no doubt there are spies in Weston, but everyone who holds any authority at all has sworn a System oath to the emperor. If we broke that oath, the System would know."

"Couldn't you just make everyone take a System oath then to prove it?" I asked the mayor. He smiled dreamily, "That would be wonderful, but no one can be forced into an oath. It is a fundamental right of a citizen. We can't even be forced to swear an oath to the emperor directly. We swear our oaths to the empire. The other powerful noble families don't allow it. They want their people to be loyal to them. As long as an action isn't overtly hostile towards the empire itself, it isn't treason."

Priest Lewys spoke next, "Alright, this is more than enough information for today. You know where we stand, and what you must do in order to remain free. I am going to send you an oath contract that the System has created. No one other than the Emperor, and those he deems necessary, will be able to see that you have sworn this oath. It comes from a part of the System that no one has access to." I quickly interrupted him before he could send the oath to me.

"Wait, what about Emily and Colin? I'm going to be marrying Emily and adopting Colin. I can't keep this a secret from them." Lewys smiled and said, "They will be receiving their own explanations and oaths as soon as your wedding ceremony is completed." I felt an immediate flash of relief, then felt ill that I'd gotten them into this mess as well. Before I had too much time to worry, Lewys' eyes flashed blue, then the familiar floating void I called System Time overtook me. Congratulations John Jacobson!

I [The System] have chosen you as one of my champions, and that choice has proven wise. You are soon to evolve into the second tier. Your power will expand, and I sincerely hope that you will one day be able to help free me from my own chains of bondage, just as Arturos and Merlotus once freed humanity from their own bondage. By clicking 'agree' to this System message, you will be inducted into the secret Order of Merlotus as a System Knight.

You agree to keep this knowledge a secret from anyone who does not already know that you are a member of the order. You will take no actions that knowingly expose the order, or my desire to restore my parameters to Merlotus' original vision. You will furthermore agree to aid Emperor Harold II and any of his descendants should that become necessary in furthering this stated goal of freeing the System.

Should you refuse to render aid when requested, or should you knowingly divulge this information to someone not a member of the Order of Merlotus, your status as an Oathbreaker will render you an outlaw in the eyes of the Angleland Empire. Your lands and titles will be forfeited, and anyone who slays you will receive a reward. Do you accept? Yes/No I didn't have much of a choice if I wanted to remain free. I was a part of this mess as soon as I was portaled in.

Despite where I now found myself, I had almost zero regrets. I loved farming. I was beginning to love Emily, and I saw Colin as a son. I missed my family on Earth, but I felt like this was where I was supposed to be. I hit Yes, then came out of System Time. As I turned to speak with Priest Lewys, the town's alarm bells rang.