I am an idiot. To think it has taken me this long to figure out my role in all of this.
I was these people's savior. I was the hope that gave them power, love, and strength.
I was the reason for their existence and their continuation. I was the destination between them and nothingness.
Albert was different after he regained his youth.
It happened so suddenly and ended just as fast, which turned out to be a good thing because not even an hour later, some new residents arrived.
During this whole event, I also figured out a few things about Albert.
For one, I now know his true title and what role he played for the kingdom.
He was like an official, someone who went around informing people of things. He helped Kivana write laws and then went out to spread them. He even visited other kingdoms.
With the new residents arriving, I put Albert and Kivana in charge of handling them. They were supposed to inform me later on how many had come.
Right now, I am reading over all the laws I had in place, which I should have done a long time ago.
Some of them looked like they were written by a child. For some reason, people could not curse in front of me.
Yes, I will have to remove a lot of these.
I was also planning to reform the government structure. In the past, Malachi explained that I handled most tasks myself.
But being self-sufficient is the most important thing for a kingdom.
I closed the law book and handed it back to Mirabel.
"Issue an official change. I should have the newly written laws soon."
She nodded.
"Alright. Do you want to move forward with trying to find all your lost followers?"
"Do you have an estimate of how many are alive now?"
She nodded.
"I have been expanding my mana across the realms. It seems around six more are still alive."
Six out of a number closer to a thousand. Why did you bastards all go and die?
I wonder if I could revive them. Though thinking about it now, most were likely erased from existence, which may be far harder to reverse.
"I see. Put all our effort into contacting them. As for the other problem..."
I looked ahead to find a man wrapped in shackles.
He was bald, covered in many scars, and looked like a typical bandit.
This guy entered the forest and attacked a small settlement. Then he came here, but when he arrived, the place was empty.
So he went and gathered some people and decided to raid the place with their help.
Props to him for wanting to spread his discovery, but Malachi killed a good portion of them.
About ten are left, and he is their leader, according to the others.
"So, you wanted to steal from me?"
He shook his head.
"No, no. I was just borrowing it. I promise I would have returned it once I became rich."
His words did not even make sense. Odds are the little mutt would have spent it all on women and wine.
"What should your punishment be? I will allow you to decide."
He stared at me for a while, then spoke hesitantly.
"A slap on the wrist?"
Mirabel stood beside me, holding the law book and crown.
I had officially decided to elect Michael as a knight. He was guarding the door from the inside.
I nodded at the mutt's words and clapped.
Michael walked up from behind him. The man sighed in relief, just as he was about to speak, his head fell to the ground.
Blood splattered, but as it touched the earth, it vanished, fading away into dust.
Michael wiped his sword with a cloth from his pocket and returned to his position.
He wore black armor made for movement rather than full protection.
His sword was forged from black metal.
Mirabel snapped her fingers, and the body vanished. She then sighed, wiping her mouth.
"Next on the list is organizing the capital funds. After mining and forcing Ouroboros to part with some of his vast fortune, we can now operate on a normal scale."
"Start by officially issuing capital funding to all businesses. After a month has passed, end it."
This is just us giving everyone free money, at least to those who initially work for the kingdom.
After that, it must come from the people themselves.
"Alright, I will inform Kivana. Shall I do it now?"
"No. We have another problem. I do not want to enter a war, not at all, but Fertical keeps sending people into the forest."
I would not normally care, but the forest is entirely under my domain, and they keep taking resources and threatening small settlements.
The world should recognize this place as off limits, but it seems that with the death of the majority of the people who once served me, they no longer care.
I will have to change that. I do not need any large scale conflicts.
"Should I send Albert to handle them?"
"If by handle you mean attack or kill, then no. We need to settle it with peace. We cannot afford a fight right now."
I know these people are all strong. Albert was just the Messenger, yet he is stronger than any human I have ever heard of.
But peace is infinitely better than war.
"I will have him explain kindly not to enter the forest anymore. You wanted to spread your name, right? This is the best way."
I thought for a moment. She is not wrong.
"Send him, but make sure no one dies."
She nodded and left.
As she walked away, I noticed something on her. A bug, it looked like a spider.
I flicked it off with a thin needle of mana, which caused it to fly off, confusing me even more.
After a moment, it landed on the ground and faded away.
I sighed at the strange event and looked at Michael, who seemed unaware of it.
In a few moments, Kivana should be here.
While I waited, I planned to speak with Mirabel.
That plan ended faster than I expected, mainly because the laws were actually very complex, though there were not many of them.
This did give me time to think. My power was related to my memory, however, I am not powerful without it.
As long as I can recreate spells and ideas I had previously, I do not need to train to regain the power to use them.
That is not to say I did not work hard. In short, I remember extensive training, just not what I learned from it.
That is why it is hard for me to see myself as strong, even though I still know, realize, and understand the strength I possess.
This world didn't follow rational or physical laws. Instead, it operates on unreal, illogical principles that defy the logic of any structured system.
It is a place where the impossible can be made real with the right understanding.
For example, it is possible to create a perfect sphere here not just a visually perfect shape, but one that is conceptually flawless, beyond even atomic-level precision.
To do so, I manipulated atoms, bent reality, and shaped formless, non-physical darkness into something that should not be possible.
This darkness was not just the absence of light.
It was a concept, a force that had no mass, no presence in physical space, and yet it was completely real in this world's rules.
But even with all that power, success was not immediate.
I had to experiment, to fail, to adjust, and through trial and error I learned how to force perfection into form.
What I realized along the way is that even the concept of error is bound to this world's logic.
Error, as abstract and immaterial as it may be, cannot exist without perfection.
They are two sides of the same coin, constantly defining and validating each other.
Which means, in a paradoxical sense, a truly perfect being cannot exist unless that being also contains or acknowledges error.
I could become such a perfect being one beyond contradiction, one who embodies flawless consistency but doing so would demand a level of power far beyond anything I have ever possessed.
Even before I lost my memories.
Still, in this world, perfection has a literal meaning. It means no flaws, no inconsistencies, no contradictions of any kind.
To achieve that, I would have to abandon my conflicting thoughts, let go of doubt, and align entirely with a single path, a single idea.
I am not doing that, though. There are other ways to reach that level of power.
I sighed again, realizing it would be a long time before I ever regained all of my power.
The king thought about his weakness. In retrospect, he was strong. In his eyes, just not strong enough.
I felt annoyed by the voices and then turned my focus toward the doors.
Michael opened them, and Kivana walked in.
Her eyes looked far too happy.