Chapter 6: Instance: The Sinful Hub Pelican Bar
Early the next morning, Hayna, the inspector, set off for the Moriarty estate with the authorization of the Inspectorate.
This time, she clearly learned her lesson from yesterday.
After a quick breakfast, Hayna rushed over, arriving even before seven o’clock.
At this time, Aivars hadn’t even gotten out of bed. So, the butler Oswald could only settle her in the living room first, serving some tea and snacks by the maids.
It wasn’t until Aivars had gotten up, washed up, and had breakfast that Oswald informed him that Inspector Hayna had been waiting in the living room.
“…You came so early today, senior. Wasn’t our agreed time at nine-thirty?”
Aivars said, sitting in his wheelchair, pushed slowly into the living room by Oswald.
As he entered, he saw Hayna, “dressed formally.”
Contrary to her attire from yesterday, Hayna now wore a two-piece leather armor outfit.
However, this armor was more of a uniform than protective gear. It didn’t entirely cover all her skin, and although it could still offer some protection, its significance was more about its ceremonial aspect.
“Armor” holds a sacredness in the Avalon Kingdom.
In the Avalon Kingdom, the main power classes are “knights” and the civil system’s “civil servants.” Apart from the hereditary knight families who can enter the parliament, this includes inspectors, arbitrators, and the entire cavalry system. Only “knights” can wear armor, and parliamentarians must be fully armored when entering the parliament. Entering the parliament in casual clothes is considered a provocation to the authority of the Round Table Hall.
Anyone other than knights wearing or even possessing armor could be directly sentenced to the harshest penalty, death. Even for knight families, heirs cannot wear their parents’ armor without the queen’s authorization.
Therefore, one can directly recognize someone’s identity on the streets by their armor. Even the specifications of the armor can reveal their rank—the less convenient it is for movement, the sturdier the material, the more majestic the appearance, and the closer the color is to silver-white, the higher their status.
This is not knowledge from the game… After all, the Avalon Kingdom was destroyed too early. This information comes solely from little Aivars’ memories and common sense.
Aivars noticed that Hayna’s leather armor was brand new. Even a slight oil scent could still be detected.
Because of this, Hayna hardly dared to sit on the Moriarty family’s sofa. She took great care by sitting at the edge of the sofa, sitting straight as if afraid to soil it and incur dislike.
“Being early is always better than being late.”
Upon seeing Aivars, Hayna immediately breathed a sigh of relief, hastily getting up from the soft sofa, “It’s alright, Mr. Aivars. I can adjust to whatever time is convenient for you—this is the requirement from the bureau.”
Aivars raised an eyebrow.
Last time, two and a half hours late. This time, three hours early…
“I feel you’re a bit too extreme,” he commented.
“What?” Hayna appeared confused.
“Nevermind,” Aivars smiled faintly, “The leather armor looks good.”
“This was specially approved for me by the bureau!”
Hearing this, Hayna immediately perked up, “My equipment and griffin were approved, but they’re still in transit. The bureau chief said it might take another two months to get them.
“But, because I reported your situation, the chief thought if something happened to you, the Inspectorate would be troubled, but disagreeing would also bring trouble. And sending many people to follow you might upset you; but if you got into trouble under my watch, that would be even bigger trouble. So, the chief made an exception and approved the armor and sword for me!”
Saying so, Hayna tapped the sword she had placed on the table excitedly.
Aivars followed her gaze.
It was a leaf-shaped short sword, shimmering with silver brilliance in its scabbard, about twenty-four inches long. The scabbard was engraved with beautiful thorn patterns, with red, green, and blue small glass shards embedded in the thorns, dazzling under the sunlight from the window. It was a very typical elven style—practicality aside, it was certainly beautiful.
The sword’s exquisite appearance did not really match Hayna’s somewhat plain leather armor. Instead, it blended naturally with the elven decorations in Aivars’ home.
For a moment, Aivars thought it was one of his family’s art pieces.
If it’s yours, then no problem.
“I will protect you well!”
Hayna declared with absolute determination.
Her calloused fingers gently brushed the thorn pattern on the scabbard. Holding the sword, her confidence seemed to surge.
Different from the fear, clumsiness, and caution she showed last night, her whole demeanor changed. Even her eyes brightened.
For example, the difference between a horror game player without a gun and one with a gun.
Aivars gazed deeply into Hayna’s eyes, falling into silence and thought.
He noticed she clearly hadn’t slept well last night—probably due to excitement.
Of course, part of the excitement was from touching her sword in advance. But more so, she probably believed she could “show her strength” now.
After yesterday’s test, today’s contact, and researching her background, Aivars could roughly figure out Hayna’s thought process.
She wasn’t very smart; once things got complicated, she would become lazy to think logically. Also, likely coming from a poor background but possessing extraordinary talent in her own domain—such as swordsmanship—her personality tended to become stubborn. Rather than hesitating, reflecting, and analyzing complexly, she would prefer to trust the results of her intuitive judgment.
In short, a sort of “martial fanatic.”
Her background was indeed average; as a village girl who never dressed up, she naturally couldn’t compare to the delicate young ladies in the capital. So, she might harbour a subtle, unrecognized inferiority complex.
This inferiority could turn into aggression and hostility towards those of higher status. But she would also fear causing trouble for herself due to her lack of background, so it wouldn’t become concrete in her words or actions. However, it would still reveal itself in her attitude under pressure and instinctive choices.
Her straightforward personality, easier-to-approach background, and excellent academic achievements, along with her wisdom in not easily offending others, made her popular in the school environment, especially among similarly straightforward students. Yet, just starting to face society and constantly facing setbacks could easily render her confused and even manipulated, leading astray in life.
Now was her time of confusion.
Such a person could be utilized.
Aivars’ display of weakness and helplessness during their meet yesterday was carefully selected after reviewing Hayna’s information, calculated to attract her attention right away.
The act of “reading poetry” subconsciously suggests a dislike for activity. His wheelchair further reinforced this “static” idea, avoiding direct confrontation with Hayna, who had confidence in “movement”, “physical strength”, “swordsmanship”, and preventing her immediate competitive spirit or attention.
Aivars had looked in the mirror and, being aesthetically normal, was aware of his current body’s attractiveness.
Based on this, Aivars had his personal maid apply makeup to create a façade of weakness and paleness from blood loss. Adjusting the fireplace to an appropriate temperature gave a sense of relaxation, while the firelight provided Aivars with a warm filter.
This imagery would trigger Hayna’s protective instinct, at least not inciting her hostility due to his background. A “weak”, “injured”, “handsome” superior was now entirely under her control, making her “hope” Aivars was good. Thus, he wouldn’t become her adversary.
At this point, Hayna’s instincts would tell her to stop investigating further. Her lack of experience made her actions easily swayed by emotions. Once she had given herself an answer, she was actually just looking for evidence to support it.
However, when a person’s impression becomes too intense, their image tends to be abstracted and skewed in memory.
If Hayna’s fondness for Aivars grew too strong, then when Aivars acted against her expectations, she would “disappoint herself”.
This is why Aivars needed to act in advance to make his first impression not so good, not so perfect. Therefore, he took advantage of Hayna being late to tell some truths she didn’t want to believe, making her feel attacked.
In fact, having been in the wrong, she was somewhat hoping for Aivars to attack her, allowing her to relax a bit.
After interpreting Aivars’ strange words as an attack, she would subconsciously dismiss their possibility. When Aivars proposed a possibility she could accept, she immediately clung to it, to lessen her guilt and ease psychological pressure.
Thus, today and in the future, she could become a very reliable bodyguard.
After yesterday’s interaction, Hayna would presume they had become friends. She was eager to demonstrate her proudest aspect—her swordsmanship—in front of this noble, innocent, gentle, artistic, weak, and handsome new friend.
If she could indeed demonstrate this, she would believe “she has showcased her proudest strength”. This would make her hope for Aivars’ recognition.
If Aivars affirmed her in this aspect and showed he indeed needed her help, such a request would greatly satisfy her social needs.
Then, despite being a suspect and initially guarded by her, Aivars could become her good friend after just one day of interaction. Thus, naturally integrating Aivars into her school social circle.
Although exploiting a young girl who had just graduated felt somewhat wrong to Aivars.
This was his debt to her.
Aivars didn’t like owing others. Once in debt, he immediately sought to repay it.
Otherwise, it would lead to closeness with others. Having “friends” is a dangerous thing; often, one might drag themselves into danger to help a friend or feel betrayed by letting down their guard.
Aivars always preferred not to get too close to others.
—It only made him tense and uncomfortable.
It’s better for both sides to maintain a mutual aid, mutually beneficial state. Staying in a healthy, efficient, renewable business relationship wouldn’t lead to sadness from betrayal or anger from abandonment… Also, it wouldn’t bring hesitation or guilt when preparing to betray others.
Aivars’ predecessor was a case in point.
Due to excessive enthusiasm and naivety, trusting pen pals as friends ended up paying a painful price.
But repaying a favor was simple for him.
In Aivars’ memory, there was no “Hayna” in the game. If things went as usual, she would likely have died in battle during the game’s first version when Avalon was invaded.
Aivars wasn’t saving Avalon for her; he was doing it for his own stable life. Thus, inadvertently saving her along the way couldn’t be considered repaying a favor.
But given Hayna’s personality, insight, and abilities, many in school with ulterior motives just like him would attempt to be her false friends. Aivars could easily identify those people and help her distinguish trustworthy, less likely to betray true friends.
He was adept at analyzing others.
In a way, HR is somewhat akin to secret police work.
Not only does it require sharp judgment, objectivity, but also enough cold-heartedness and ruthlessness.
A mere flick of the finger could mean “eliminating” someone, losing a job, decreasing their salary… and this was precisely Aivars’ job itself.
It’s a somewhat unscrupulous profession.
Generally, if you’re corporate cattle, chances are your hatred for HR is maxed out.
Aivars had just experienced three years of unemployment not long ago.
Just found a job, hadn’t officially started, and then arrived in this world on the brink of a dangerous future.
Despite his calm demeanor and expression, he had already analyzed himself psychologically—he now felt a strong sense of instability.
He was satisfied with his current life, yet clearly aware of the impending doom.
He urgently desired a stable life, not wanting to become a refugee, homeless, and wandering.
To fight the fear of the future from this world, he must climb as high and as quickly as possible. To gain some power in the Avalon Kingdom. At the very least, he couldn’t afford to have his teammates dragging him down while he was alone against a great enemy.
It wasn’t paranoia.
Aivars could be certain.
His vision being much longer than most people in this world, their decisions based on available information were surely imperfect, incomplete. And Aivars couldn’t easily disclose the future insights he had obtained—he wasn’t a saint. This foresight could become his precious asset.
Therefore, Aivars needed enough influence.
Not the “knight” title from his foster father. That was merely nominal status, barely making a difference in the parliament other than engaging in intellectual battles with wily old men. Anything attempted became like molasses, hard to execute freely.
That sensation of life drifting with the current, fate not in one’s own hands… was uncomfortable.
Aivars desired, instead, for those in power to consult him before making decisions. He couldn’t be one of them, better to stay away from any faction. He couldn’t afford to be a pawn in internal power struggles… but had to be higher than them.
Not to control others, but to ensure he wasn’t controlled.
To prevent being sacrificed or having to sacrifice others.
Aivars vaguely recalled, this incident would eventually involve a minister.
In the original history, it was the players who gained lofty reputations by resolving this incident.
Without player characters in this world, he had to join the investigation of this incident.
Fortunately, thanks to Yulia—though Aivars still skipped the story animation, he remembered some details. Like where the crucial information was, what enemies and how high their levels were in the final instance.
Because after a complicated investigation, the game’s first instance would open:
The level 10 instance, “Sinful Hub Pelican Bar”.
(End of Chapter)
