Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 249 - 47 "Luck" Sequence

Chapter 249: Chapter 47 "Luck" Sequence

New Swan Castle, constructed in the years leading up to Mad Ludwig’s death, has been acclaimed as "the crystallization of genius and madness."

The madness lies in the fact that the castle was built to serve as a military fortress, yet it lacks towers, corner turrets, and battlements, and is void of any slots for firearms or positions for cannons—like a soldier without any armor or weapons.

The genius is evident in the castle’s visual appearance; its walls are pure white, and its roof is covered with blue glazed tiles, beautiful as if plucked from a fairy tale dream home.

However, this beauty is limited only to its exterior—Ludwig died before New Swan Castle was completed, resulting in nothing more than an empty shell with rooms that had no chance for interior design. It is said to have left the family with tens of millions of marks in debt.

"My father often said that Ludwig was a mad heir," Eleanor stated as she stood at the castle’s entrance, conversing with Aske. "If this guy were an architect, an artist, or a playwright, he certainly would have achieved something remarkable. It’s a pity that such a person was the heir to the Weisbach family at the time."

"So was the castle abandoned after that?" Miel asked.

"Not at all," Eleanor replied. "We rented it out to a film company from Solomon City, who used it for movies. It seems that they finally made back the costs about thirty years ago."

The three of them stood at the entrance of New Swan Castle, surrounded by a vast and empty forest. Of course, given the recent souring of relations between the Church Court and the Empire, no film company from Solomon would rent this castle anymore.

The reason why they chose to come in a group of three was that the instance inside the castle itself wasn’t large, and there was no need for the full roster of The Azure Longsword to be deployed.

Aside from Miel and Eleanor, Aske gave the rest of the girls a break and brought just the two of them to this place.

"Speaking of which, could Eleanor’s ancestor, ’Mad Ludwig,’ have been a Transcendent of the ’Luck’ Sequence?" Miel asked curiously.

"I don’t think so," Eleanor said uncertainly. "As far as I know, he was just an ordinary person."

"He wasn’t, but one of his friends was," Aske interjected. "Have you heard of Wilhelm?"

"Are you talking about that classical romantic playwright?" Eleanor had heard of him; her noble education included art appreciation, "The Nibelungen’s Ring, Valkyrie, Twilight of the Gods—many famous legendary dramas were written by him."

"Yes, this writer was passionate about exploring all kinds of extraordinary myths, and then depicted them in the form of scripts," Aske explained. "Because he constantly dallied with mutants and ancient ruins, often wandering on the verge of death, and since he was wholly inept in combat, he chose to consume a ’Luck’ Sequence Magic Potion."

"This Magic Potion allowed him to adjust the cycles of Luck and misfortune freely. Whenever he ventured into dangerous mutant territories, he would maximize Luck’s favor to save his life; and when he returned to the civilized world, the corresponding bad Luck would be slowly released."

"Because of frequent, life-threatening adventures and constant use of his Luck Ability, the misfortunes he faced in the civilized world included: being fired by a producer and then struggling to find work for a long time; participating in local marches, only to be suppressed after two days, and he himself was even wanted as a ringleader; receiving donations from friends during his exile, only to quickly spend it all and be left heavily in debt; being discovered by his wife exchanging letters with a female patron, leading to a misunderstanding of infidelity and a public scandal, and so on."

"Of course, his most infamous piece of bad Luck involved encountering ’Mad Ludwig,’ who admired his art immensely, even going as far as to build a grand opera house especially for him."

"As a result, rumors started swirling in Bavaria that the two men were in a same-sex relationship, forcing the playwright to indignantly depart to Burgundy, where he died of a heart attack 7 years later—Ludwig even sent for his coffin to be brought back."

"So were they actually homosexuals?" Miel inquired.

"That’s hardly the point of the story..." Eleanor said, exasperated.

"The key point is that this guy’s corpse is probably hidden in New Swan Castle, so we have to get his Extraordinary Traits," Aske said. "There’s evidence to suggest that before his death, he was a Lv.4 ’Gambler,’ meaning if we can get his Extraordinary Traits, then from ’Luck I’ to ’Luck IV,’ you’ll have all the Main Sequence materials you’ll need afterward."

"And Miel, your Destiny Shooter, must consume and digest the ’Luck’ Sequence in order to fully unleash the greatest power of this bloodline."

The two girls fell into thought. Of course, they didn’t ask Aske how he knew all this — they had seen so many strange things that they had gotten used to it. But...

"I feel like this Ability seems rather lame," Miel pondered. "If luck is conserved, then doesn’t it mean that no matter how much good fortune I have now, I’ll have to compensate with just as much bad luck later?"

"No, this Ability is very powerful," Aske explained. "Although luck is conserved, there’s a world of difference between what’s controllable and what’s not."

"For example, gambling. Bet big when you’re lucky, then lose on numerous small bets to spread out the bad luck, thus realizing a stable winning strategy. If it wasn’t for Wilhelm’s addiction to composing and lack of versatility, he would never have been short of money in his life."

The two girls were speechless after hearing this. Wilhelm...clearly could have used his abilities to win at gambling, yet he managed to repeatedly bankrupt himself. It had to be said that he was quite a character.

"Perhaps he just didn’t want to put his energy into making money since the luck he tuned in also had its limits," Eleanor joked. "Just like our Squad Leader, who clearly runs a Mercenary Group to make a living, yet doesn’t take trade negotiations with others seriously."

"Miel, you weren’t with us at the time, but we went to a secret meeting of Transcendents to buy a Magic Potion Recipe. The host actually quoted us a price of 1,000 pounds, which everyone thought was outrageous. Yet the Squad Leader stubbornly produced a clue for some precious weapon and forcibly traded it with the host."

"Medea cursed you behind your back for a long time, saying you couldn’t even bargain and were just like a foolish country bumpkin."

"Wasn’t I doing it for all of your upgrades?" Aske retorted with a laugh. "Besides, even if I hadn’t sold the clue to ’Shadow Blade’ to the host of the Transcendent meeting back then, that demigod would have acquired the corresponding clue through other channels in two or three years anyway. Rather than letting someone else make that money, why not have us earn it?"

"Aske, why can you be so sure that if he didn’t buy our clue, he’d be able to get it from other channels?" Miel asked puzzledly.

If Aske’s knowledge of "Mad Ludwig" could be explained by ’extensive experience,’ then his certainty about what someone would do in two or three years fell into the realm of ’prophetic knowledge.’

Aske coughed. He couldn’t possibly say, "Because that’s how the game’s plot develops later on." So he waved it off dismissively:

"Don’t ask, it’s just that I, the Squad Leader, am omnipotent."

The three walked into the castle courtyard and found the gardens completely disarrayed. The carefully cultivated flowers and shrubs were now overwhelmed by a sea of weeds and wild trees, not to mention traces of wild animals everywhere.

"Alright then," Eleanor said, taking the Long Spear off her back. "Are we going to search room by room? There could be wild animals living in them."

"Don’t be in a hurry to act," Aske said leisurely. "Judging the psychology of the opponent is also an important ability on the battlefield."

"Suppose you’re Ludwig, your close friend has died, and now you’re planning to find a place in the castle to place his remains. Which room would you choose?"

"A room? I think building a cemetery outside would be more appropriate..." Eleanor pondered and then had a sudden realization.

"The Underground Opera House!"