There are millions of faithful in this world, they all worship one Lord, the God of Alaric. There is no one name for the continent's main god, so whenever they refer to their god, they refer to the first saint who embodied his values.

Saint Zoran.

The first saint is the representative of the intangible god, the only once living proof of their god. The one who descended from heaven and ended the 100-year war, the saint who put Alaric on the throne 300 years ago. 

Yes, Saint Zoran.

Light itself!

This legend is told to all followers of the Zoran Church, even til this day.

But constant piety can only be found with constant faith. Without the presence of such a saint in the last two centuries, faith in the intangible god has waned.

He who does not act, he who does not speak, he who does not yield.

We cannot feel your presence any longer.

The Dukedom of the East is on the way to collapse, Leprosy has infected his eldest son. Without the Dukedom of the East, the barbarians will invade and plunder.

When we divide our forces, the Western front will be exposed, and the Southern Border may be attacked.

"I pray to you…please save our Kingdom, Saint…!"

[…]

I looked at myself in the mirror, pale skin with red patches all over, instead of a human, I was more of a ghoul. 

It's painful.

The feeling on my skin, and even looking at myself.

Based on the information I got from the maid, this is the year 839, 5 years before the complete collapse of the Dukedom. This is the absolute worst starting point, it's worse than a beggar.

There's no known method to prevent the Dukedom from falling, and even then, the corruption is so far inset that it would take at least a decade for reform. 

It's made worse since after the fall of the Dukedom, any affiliated with the Dukedom will be hunted down by the invading Magi, the backing of the barbarians. 

It was brutal enough when I tried a run as a servant of the family. I was killed without exception only 2 years after the fall at a maximum from my 500 runs. Worse, I was the last priority as a stable keep.

I'm now the eldest son of the Duke, I might even be killed instantly.

That Asher…he really kept his end of the deal. 

I'm afflicted with Leprosy, which makes me have the worst stats, with the worst body, with the worst appearance. Now, as the son of a doomed Dukedom, I have the worst background.

I'm fucked.

In the first place, how do I cure leprosy? It wasn't mentioned in school or anything. The only thing in the game that had something similar to leprosy was zombification, the symptoms are similar to that of zombification.

The skin is discolored, the pain, loss of touch, joint pain, and blindness. 

I touched my glasses on that final thought.

I…could go blind. If I go blind, then it's over, there's no hope.

Besides the insanely rare opportunity to become a vampire that would erase most diseases upon corruption, there's no known cure for zombification. 

"Status."

Nothing.

"Escape."

Nothing.

"Log out."

Nothing.

Is it this far set in reality? Was what Asher said true? This is the 'real.' Other World.

I'm not being pranked, this isn't a joke.

"Zombification…zombification…zombification…"

What is zombification? Necrosis, the death of skin. Why is that happening? Bacteria. What kills bacteria? Antibiotics. What suppresses that and increases hormone production for recovery? Steroids. 

There isn't anything like an antibiotic pill in this world, but there are natural antibodies I can use. 

Mom used to tell me that cloves, ginger, garlic, honey, thyme, oregano, and turmeric killed the bacteria in the body. 

But that doesn't do anything for diseases that are already present in my body.

My leprosy is still in the early stages so I should be able to at least alleviate or halt the process.

On the off chance that I'm able to cure this…

I may be able to save the Dukedom.

My heart beats loudly at the thought of completing a never done before challenge, but I have to remember that this isn't a game, no I already know that but I still feel this way.

I want to complete this challenge, not just to survive, but because I'll be the first. 

"I'm so stupid."

I don't think I can hold myself back.

"Emily, come in."

"Yes, Young Master."

"Bring me stew concentrated with cloves, ginger, garlic, honey, thyme, oregano, and turmeric, make it an everyday dish. Tell my instructor that he's relieved of his duties, and instead hire someone who knows the fighter's spirit art."

"At your bidding."

She should have sizable authority since in this household, the Duke himself selects the maid, and Emily is at least a minor noble.

In the game, I was just ridiculously ugly to the point that my affinity with everyone dropped to zero making saving the Dukedom impossible, but since I'm diseased, the affinity rate doesn't go down due to disease.

The reason for the affinity decrease now is that I'm ugly due to leprosy, and the disease makes me close to death instead of weak. Thus, the only other reasons for an affinity decrease should be my leprosy hindering the Dukedom and something petty like my wealth.

The last reason would be intentionally created.

"Young Master!"

Instructor for the Eldest Son, Frederick.

"What do you mean I'm out of a job?!"

"I meant exactly what I said."

Veins popped on his face, truly a heinous expression, even by my standards.

"I've been serving the Duke loyally for 4 years? Is this how my loyalty is rewarded?!"

"You were selected as an instructor for me since I needed to learn the basics, since I've done so, you can leave now. You weren't even supposed to be here this long."

He smirks.

"You haven't been able to learn the basics properly yet, so how can I leave?"

In the game, this bastard made sure not to teach me anything to leech off the Duke as long as possible, so in the end, I killed him out of frustration every run.

This is different now, before, he could claim that I had no talent and kept staying there, no one would listen because of the horrendous face of my avatar.

But now, I. Am. A. Mother. Fucking. Patient!

"You purposely didn't teach me anything to leech off this household, so I'd like to know-"

I looked him right in the eyes.

"How many people have you taken advantage of with the Noctum name?"

His face goes pale, he looks around and spots Emily reaching the door to my room.

"Miss Emily, t-the young lord has gone insane!"

"Emily."

"Young Master."

"The former instructor on the fronts of abusing the name of Noctum, belittling its heir, embezzling, and rape, is to work in the mines for 230 years to pay off his debts."

"Yes, Young Master."

Frederick's face turns red.

"Emily! You can't do this!"

He then madly turns to me.

"You can't do this! I won't accept it, what, just 4 years of a little indulgence and you ruin me?!"

Drawing the sword from his waist, he starts to walk towards me.

"Why should my life be dictated by the words of a disabled brat?!"

"Shit…!"

Yet before he can take another step, his head falls to the ground.

Emily holds a thin saber in her hands and starts to clean the blood off it with a handkerchief.

"Young Master, he personally admitted to his crimes and tried to harm the Young Master. I believe this to be a fitting punishment."

My astonishment only lasted a moment.

"Good work, Emily, have the other servants clean my room, I'm going to the dining hall."

"Yes, Young Master."

Right…I had forgotten in my fear, that the maids in this castle are all combat maids.

 As I step into the dining hall, a familiar face awaits me.

"Duri, you're here at this hour?"

Duke Noctum.

"Father…"

Duke Noctum, my father, was enjoying a meal.

I looked outside the window and saw the sun rising.

"You usually wake up midday, it's strange to see you up so soon."

"Ah…well, Emily will tell you about it later."

I sat down in the second chair on the left side, where the soup I requested be made was ready. The ingredients were cooked, but diced raw garlic and raw ginger were floating atop the soup as well.

I started eating, and obviously, it tasted terrible. This wasn't stewed or seasoned, just pure veggies. 

It won't help with leprosy, but it's all I can do right now. Maybe it's because it tastes so bad that I began to feel a bit better. It's gotta be a placebo or something.

"I don't disagree with your judgment to fire the instructor, I was wondering if I should have just kicked him out as well."

Oh?

"On another note, I have a difficult decision to make. The Dukedom will perish in a matter of years, I don't know how many, but I will hold on as long as I can. You're too old and too weak to learn our family's Noctum Sword Arts."

Where is this going?

"So I want to send you over to the academy early, while I still can."

"…"

I couldn't go in the game because I was so hideous that if I were to show my face, it would dishonor the family. This lowers the difficulty, it's something I should be happy about.

But it's not the correct choice, in my normal runs, the academy is just a place for ranking and connections, it can be completed within 4 years and you can receive honors.

However, the territory collapses in 5 years, there's no way I can just waste time there while the Dukedom goes up in ashes.

"No, I will fight."

"Duri, our bloodline cannot end here."

"Then I will have a son during the time I am still alive, I cannot let our territory fall."

Duke Noctum places his fork and knife down, perpendicularly as he found them.

"Duri Noctum, you will go to the academy upon my order to save the territory."

Is it just a ploy to send me to the academy?

"I will hold out here, for as long as I can, I will hold the barbarians back, and I will slay the magi behind them. I will not let centuries of work and honor be gone in my time, I do not wish to be a disgrace. Do you understand?"

I nod.

"I am certain I can hold out long enough for you to find connections, whether they can save the family or not."

"There isn't a future for me there."

"I just want you to be happy."

"…"

"…"

"Then promise me this. That no matter what, absolutely, you will hold out for 5 years."

"I promise."

No hesitation.

I don't know if that's what you want, or if it's really the truth. But I know you're a man of your word.

"Then I'll go."

This isn't the right path, I know it isn't. 

"…phew, good."

But just this once, I'll do things a little differently.