'What's wrong with everyone. Why would someone add such a stupid ability in a ring-like that?' Ryder thought as he frowned.

'I should choose something else that has a better ability. I have a limited number of accessory slots that can be equipped, after all. What should I do? It would be embarrassing if I returned the ring wore by Salem for being useless,'

He walked back and forth as he fell in deep thought. He understood that it was a bad idea to use this item. He only had the slot of one more item after he equipped the Crown, Wind Shoes, and the robe that were given by High Dukes.

That wasn't even counting the bracelet of Immortality that was occupying the permanent slot that he couldn't remove. He could only equip one more accessory, and this seemed not to be worth it.

The problem was how he should get rid of it after finding its history.

'Wait a minute... This ability, it can be useful. Why didn't I think of it before!'

Ryder looked back at Rale as he smiled subtly.

"Rale," he called out.

"Yes, Your Highness?" Rale responded respectfully.

"Your father didn't give you this ring because he said you hadn't earned it. I seem to believe you all the rights a person can have. You shall wear it," he said as he reached out his hand towards Rale.

"This... But Commander Rale didn't satisfy the criteria of having a medal of bravery," Kia pointed out as she tried to stop Ryder.

Ryder gazed back at the girl with a clever look on his face as he said, "You seem to be forgetting something really important, little girl."

Even though the girl seemed older than him, he still called her little girl, which was a force of habit from his real life.

"Hmm?"

Not only Kia but even Rale seemed confused.

"The criteria is for you people selling it. As you said, I satisfy the criteria. So I took it from you. From this point onwards, your responsibility is over, and I'm the owner of this ring," Ryder explained to the girl.

"I don't need to follow your criteria to decide who I can give my thing to," he said before he looked back at Rale. "Come on, take it."

"Your Highness, I am not worthy of it," Rale told Ryder as he took a step back.

"Are you going to ignore my commands?" Ryder inquired as he squinted his eyes.

"As for your worthiness, that's for me to decide. You have helped me so much throughout thick and thin. You even fought so bravely against the intruders from the Death Domain. Your contribution to my life is a lot more than I could have hoped. Here, take it," Ryder told Rale as he smiled.

Rale looked at Ryder blankly while he reached out his hand and accepted the ring. It was the first time Ryder had seen some wetness in Rale's eyes which amazed Ryder.

Did rale become so emotional from this small gesture?

[Congrats: You have achieved the hidden requirements of absolute loyalty. Royal Commander will be absolutely loyal to you even when you go against the law or against this Empire]

A notification appeared on a semi-transparent screen in front of Ryder. Reading that only startled Ryder.

'A hidden Criteria? Absolute Loyalty of Rale even to the point where he can betray the Empire for me? Amazing. So there are criteria like this sprinkled throughout. I didn't expect that,' Ryder thought as he finished reading the system notification from the game.

That wasn't all. After he closed the screen, more notifications started popping up in continuation.

[Hidden Criteria of Quest of Salem fulfilled]

[Salem Class Upgrade Quest is Available]

[Quest: Secret]

[You can only read the details of the quest after you accept the quest]

[Failing the quest after accepting will result in your failure in Quest of Salem. You'll lose all further class quest]

[Would you accept the Class Upgrade Quest]

[Yes]

[No]

'Hmm, A secret quest that I can't even read? How can I decide if it's worth accepting or not in case this is some disaster? The failure will limit me from getting further related quest.'

The information about the quest made him uncertain. He would have accepted in a heartbeat if there wasn't a thing about the outcome of failure.

"Your Highness, I would like to thank you for this great honor. I, Rale Akazer, pledge my full allegiance once again." Rale's Voice brought Ryder out of his daze.

Ryder watched Rale sitting on his knees.

"I know how loyal you are, Rale. You don't have to pledge anything," Ryder answered as he smiled. "You may stand."

Watching Rale's determination and support gave Ryder more motivation.

'That's right. Why am I even worrying about it? I have Rale and everyone else. Why do I have to be scared of a simple quest.'

He pressed Yes on the screen and accepted the quest.

[Quest: Become the King of Death Domain]

As Ryder accepted the quest, what it was, got revealed before him, which was enough to shock him thoroughly. Just what kind of quest was it? Was this system of the game malfunctioning?

How can he be told to become the King of a realm which literally hated him? He was not only the soon-to-be king of the Demon Realm, which was an eternal enemy of this place.

It wasn't as simple as becoming the Prince of this place to become the King there. He knew that if he tried to swim in two boats, he was going to drown, but he had accepted the quest. There was no going back unless he wanted to lose all future opportunities.

'War? I can wage war. The quest didn't say that I must become their King with their will. If I wage a war and win over them, I'll become the King of both places. They should satisfy the criteria of Salem,' he thought of a way that made it possible to achieve it.

But he knew that there was still a problem.

Was it really possible to achieve it? He didn't see his probability of successfully getting it done even with war. Those people would all be willing to die before accepting their enemy race as their King. And would he even be considered a king of the Death Domain if it's just barren land?

That was something that he could only leave to possibility. The thing to do now was becoming the King of Demon Realm by finishing the Kingship Trial.

Rale stood up after Ryder's command.

"Show me other items," Ryder told Kia to show him more. He had one more slot for an accessory. And he wanted to find something which really offered him the best support.

"Oh, right. Rale, I forgot to tell you something about that ring."

While Kia turned back to the back, Ryder started talking to Rale.

"This ring has a special ability where you can lock onto one person. When you do that, you'll know when the person is in danger. I want you to use that ability on me after wearing that ring. Through that, you'll know when I'm in life-threatening danger," he told Rale.

"When that happens, you can bring High Dukes to help me. In this way, it can act as a homing beacon."

This was also one of the reasons Ryder decided to give this to Rale. He wanted to die as little as possible for certain reasons. This special ability of the ring was useless for him, but it was something that gained much more importance when it was used by someone else for his Protection.

"That's right. This way I don't have to worry about you. I can be there when you need me," Rale exclaimed. He was fascinated. Why didn't he think of this before?

He hurriedly wore the ring and used the ability on Ryder.

*****

[New Class Upgrade Quest unlocked]

[Quest: Use your army to take over the Demon Realm]

[After finishing the quest, your special class will be further upgraded]

[Failure to finish the quest will result in all further quests being locked]

[Would you like to accept]

[Yes]

[No]

"How did I even end up here? What is this war quest? Why is this game so weird? I thought it would be a fun adventure. Why does this seem so stupid?"

A girl was standing in front of a semi-transparent screen that was showing her a quest.

She was wearing an adventurer attire.

A confused look was on her face as she gazed back and forth between the screen and the hundreds of people that were lying on their knees before her, chanting, "Long Live the Divine Oracle Alice!"

"Fine. If this means I can become a High-Level player and surprise him, I will finish this quest," the girl muttered as she made a determined face.

Reaching out her finger, she tapped on [Yes]