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“It’s huge and extremely idealized!”

 

People are going to be so disappointed when they see the real me. I didn’t like that.

 

Seeing that I was upset, Eric and Goran immediately started to make excuses.

 

The stonemason had never met me.

And so the statue was created based off of Goran and Eric’s descriptions.

And that was the result. It was incredibly troublesome.

 

Goran smiled and opened his mouth. He was clearly going to try and change the subject.

 

“I forgot! It has been 10 years after all. Ruck, your Adventurer’s card must be expired? I will issue a new one for you.”

“Oh, right. It expires every 7 years.”

 

Adventurer’s had a dangerous profession. It was not rare for them to go missing without anyone knowing if they were still alive.

And so people who had gone missing for 7 years were treated as being deceased.

 

I had lost my Adventurer’s card during my fight with the devils.

But it wouldn’t have mattered either way.

 

“The name will be Grand Duke, Ruck Franzen. Your job will be Great Philosopher, Our Saviour, The Great High Sorcerer, S Rank. Is that acceptable to you?”

“Wait a minute.”

“What? Yes, we were all A Rankers, but with a history of fighting devils and killing the Devil King, you are more than qualified for this promotion?”

“Indeed. Goran and I are also S Rank now. And since you have accomplished more than either of us, there is no way that you can remain an A Rank.”

 

I didn’t mean that. No, that’s also important.

S Rank was not something handed out easily. It was a special rank that only a few in history had been honored with.

Besides, what’s with these strange titles like Great Philosopher, Our Saviour, and Great High Sorcerer?

 

But there was something I needed to protest first.

 

“Grand Duke? Also, first of all, what’s ‘Franzen’?”

“Now, calm down. Calm down.”

 

Goran said placatingly, but I could hardly do that now.

I was given a title without my consent, and Grand Duke?

And I never heard the name Franzen before. I was not a noble and had no family name.

 

“It was meant to reward you for saving our world. And so I bestowed on you this title. 8 years ago.”

“It’s the next thing that Eric did after constructing the statue.”

 

Goran added. Was this king alright?

I was so worried.

 

“And if you are going to have a title, you need a family name, no?”

“I suppose.”

“And so it is Franzen.”

 

I was too tired to argue.

 

“Well, I am fine with that name… But Grand Duke…you really went all out… Did no one object to it?”

“Not a single person. They all thought you were dead, anyway. And you have no children, let alone family.”

 

So to the other nobles, he was honoring a deceased man.

No one was actually becoming Grand Duke.

It was nothing more than a line being added to the historical record.

 

But if I did have a family, someone would succeed me, and there would be a new Grand Duke.

Now that would have been significant. The map of power between the noble houses would have shifted.

Of course, it was bound to lead to much protesting.

 

“I don’t really want to be a Grand Duke.”

“True. Had I known you were alive, I might have stopped at Count…”

 

Eric said a little uneasily. However, Goran still looked puzzled.

 

“But why?”

He tilted his head.

 

Now that I’m alive, there is one new Grand Duke.

A Grand Duke is an incredibly high ranking noble. One of the highest of all the nobles.

If that happened, the other nobles would not remain silent. I could be involved in a power struggle.

Maybe they would hire assassins to kill me.

 

I explained all of this to Goran.

“I see, perhaps you are right. But I am sure you could easily handle some puny assassins?”

“Well, maybe I could, but I don’t want to. It’s too much trouble.”

“I see. That’s true.”

 

Goran finally understood how much of a hassle this situation was for me.

 

“Maybe it would be better if my survival wasn’t widely known.”

“But…”

 

And so I persuaded the uncooperative Goran and had him register me under a different name as a new Adventurer.

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