Around the time an untimely winter began restricting Grylls's activities, the world outside the Forest of Four Seasons was bustling for all sorts of reasons.

The Holy Kingdom, Eldorado, was ablaze over the investigation team and the Undying King crisis. In Mephisto, hooligans who refused to accept the match results were setting everything on fire. Even the relatively quiet countries kept busy for their own reasons.

"Are you the one who presented me with the mature mandrake?"

His expression suggested he found everything in the world a bother, yet it could not conceal his majesty. His blond hair still shone, untouched by fading color, and his beard was neatly groomed. The very picture of a handsome middle-aged man spoke in an indifferent voice. For all the weariness written across his face, his dignity was impossible to hide.

"Y-yes! That is correct, Your Majesty."

Count Gorgon bowed deeply before him as he answered. A little distance away, the handsome blond Arnold watched.

"Raise your head. You are as good as my savior."

"I-I am deeply honored, Your Majesty."

"There is no need for that. Now, what is it you desire?"

The middle-aged man dispensing with the preliminaries was Robert. Robert Louis Messiah II, emperor of the Messiah Empire. Though he bore the dubious reputation of being an emperor who was only good at domestic affairs, he wielded immense power.

In truth, even that domestic success would have been impossible without administrative authority—in other words, immense power. It was precisely that formidable authority that allowed him to steadily strengthen the Messiah Empire's foundations.

"I-I desire nothing. Your Majesty's return to health is enough for me."

"Is that so? Very well. I shall think of a suitable reward for you. You may withdraw."

"May you enjoy a long and healthy life."

Count Gorgon bowed deeply once more in farewell, even showing the tact to wish him good health rather than offering an ordinary parting salutation. Robert remained impassive despite the thoughtful choice of words.

Soon, Robert and Arnold were alone in the imperial bedchamber. Robert remained silent for a while, and Arnold waited quietly for his father to speak.

"... My son."

"Yes, Father."

"You really have done something utterly unnecessary."

Robert broke the heavy silence with a note of reproach. Arnold flinched and stole a glance at him. His father merely gazed up at the ceiling, as though he had much on his mind.

"You've ruined my plans."

"What plans... do you mean?"

"..."

Robert did not answer. Clearly, he did not wish to explain. Then he looked at the bewildered Arnold and spoke quietly.

"You said it came from the forum?"

"Yes. That... is correct."

"They have all manner of things there. And something from the Forest of Four Seasons, no less..."

Robert stroked his beard as though deep in thought, then continued.

"What was his name again? Count Gola?"

"Count Gorgon."

"Ah, yes. Leave this matter entirely to him. I have work to do."

"What work do you mean...?"

"Preparing your succession ceremony."

"!"

Arnold's eyes widened. Robert's delivery was calm, but the substance of his words was anything but. A succession ceremony meant inheriting the imperial throne. Arnold would soon become emperor.

For a moment, excitement surged through Arnold at the prospect of getting what he wanted, but he gradually calmed himself. Experience had taught him that excitement could ruin things.

"I'll have the ceremony arranged within a month. We will be rather busy."

"Father, I am not yet..."

"Even after eating the mature mandrake, my health is not what it used to be. I can hardly keep going anymore."

Robert cut Arnold off before he could say more. Inwardly cheering, Arnold waited for his father to continue.

"So you must prepare yourself thoroughly as well. Recent developments in the Holy Kingdom and Alvenheim are troubling."

"I will be vigilant."

"If you overcome these difficulties, you can become a greater emperor than I."

"Not at all. You have made the empire's pillars stronger than ever, Father."

"That was just me riding Ashe's coattails."

"Pardon?"

Arnold's eyes went round, wondering for a moment whether he had misheard.

"Cough! Cough! Haaack!"

Of course, his doubt turned to concern when Robert began coughing violently. Startled, Arnold turned to call the physician, but Robert raised a hand to stop him.

"Cough. It's nothing. At my age, a little coughing is unavoidable."

"Father."

"In any case, the empire has ample talent. You need not worry about matters at home. If necessary, you can write to the former captain of the guard."

There was only one person he could mean: Ashe Menesil, the empire's mightiest sword and a warrior who held swordmaster as a title. Though she currently lived in partial seclusion, she would gladly answer a request from Robert. The emperor had been the patron who supported her wholeheartedly, and Ashe had repaid that kindness in turn.

Someone had spilled a wealth of useful tips on the forum and raised the continent's average combat strength, but that was no great concern. Ashe's name alone ensured that no one could treat the empire lightly.

"You need only focus on foreign affairs. Matters seem to be escalating."

"Yes. Understood."

"Then you may go. I wish to be alone."

"What about the physician...?"

"I will summon him myself."

"Yes, Father."

Arnold bowed and left the bedchamber, leaving Robert alone. For a while, he merely blinked, then let out a sigh. An unfamiliar wistfulness entered his eyes as he murmured to himself.

"I didn't want to work..."

It was the lament of an office worker ground down by the job. And he was not finished.

"Why do mature mandrakes even exist...? I was going to enjoy a comfortable retirement..."

Robert muttered in a voice steeped in irritation and weariness with the entire world.

Had his health declined? That was true to an extent. But he was not so bedridden that he could barely work. It was closer to what people called faking illness—except that his pretense involved poison.

He had drunk a poison that made him feel sick, much like a cold, without harming his health. His physician had been informed beforehand, allowing him to make it look like a dire emergency.

His reason was simple: he did not want to work. Being an emperor or a king inevitably came with overwork. Robert could not escape it either, and that had ultimately driven him to this.

One could call him irresponsible as an emperor, but there was no real problem. He had already transferred all affairs of state to his son Arnold. Only the succession ceremony remained, yet he could not bear even that wait before taking to his bed.

'I hope Eldorado and Alvenheim don't pull any shit over the next month.'

With those troublemakers acting up lately, Robert wanted the succession ceremony over with as quickly as possible. Which would mean more work. The mere thought was horrifying.

After briefly fretting over what lay ahead, Robert gazed into empty space. A window floated into view: the forum his son Arnold had also taken to enjoying lately.

'It was so nice.'

What had he done while faking an illness that was not entirely fake? Played around on the forum. Even a dignified emperor could not resist a little secret amusement. Indeed, after working so hard all this time, he had immersed himself in it as a reward.

'I want to have fun like that too.'

Why did he have to be emperor? He could live with being called an emperor who was only good at domestic affairs, but why an emperor at all? Why, oh why, had his father only had one son? All sorts of thoughts crossed his mind.

Browsing the forum, Robert found a post by someone who had recently risen to fame.

Speed-sloth's zoning out by the fire

Wild Grylls

(The speed-sloth staring into the fire)

This bastard's been staring at the fire, and I can't get him away from it.

Even when I drag him away, he goes right back. He's still at it even after singeing his fur lol

└Heavenly Demon Oddly endearing. It seems to understand how precious warmth is.

└Sword Masta The speed-sloth has a surprisingly cute side too.

└Starlight Lady Is Roundfur there too? I'd like to see him.

└Wild Grylls (Roundfur sleeping curled into a ball) Here he is.

└He's so cute every single time lol

└Does he ever wake up? Is he actually hibernating?

Wild Grylls, who had supposedly landed in the Forest of Four Seasons. Robert had lately become engrossed in these records of his daily life. He wanted nothing from the man; as emperor, he already possessed everything he could want.

'I'm strangely envious.'

He simply envied the life Grylls was living. It was not completely unaided wilderness survival, but a life in the wild with a little support here and there. He wanted to live like that too. Build an oven, hunt, catch fish.

He thought he understood why people wanted to farm as they got older. After a busy life, they craved freedom. Not absolute freedom, but freedom earned through their own efforts. Work whose results came directly from their own actions. Entering middle age and reading Grylls's posts only strengthened that longing.

'If only my safety were guaranteed...'

Of course, Grylls's goal was survival and escape, not settling down. Robert, on the other hand, wanted life in the wild without the danger. Whenever Grylls occasionally landed in peril, it gave him quite a fright.

'I'll have to settle for living vicariously.'

For that to happen, Grylls must not die. This quiet spell was just right. And so he made his decision. He would be free of being emperor in another month anyway. Until then, Robert would provide whatever support he could.

'First, I'll need to make a registered account...'

A little later, the username Robert came up with was...

AbsoluteSupremeRobertRules

"Heh heh."

It was a perfect example of like father, like son. His son was even using that very username already. Chuckling, Robert submitted it for registration.

This username is already registered.

"..."

For a moment, Robert was speechless.

'Someone actually uses a dumbass username like this?'

His own son did.

* * *

The speed-sloth had given me a hard time by doing nothing but stare into the fire all day, but I had let it go for now. I was the only one who would lose out if I kept wrestling with him. Better to leave him alone. Surely Speedy would move away from the fire eventually. That was what I hoped, anyway.

WHOOOOOSH!!!

Meanwhile, the blizzard still raged outside. I wanted to pull aside the flapping cloth and take a look, but I restrained myself. If I dislodged all its fastenings and it blew away, that would be a disaster.

In the end, I had no choice but to spend the entire day inside the cave. Counting yesterday's rain, that made almost two full days cooped up in here.

'Seriously, what would I have done if I hadn't smoked that meat?'

I had smoked meat for dinner, while the speed-sloth ate an inner core from the stockpile. Since this shitty weather might continue, I would need to hunt from now on too. If all else failed, I would have to use fish. Smoking food was essential.

'If the blizzard stops tomorrow, I'll have my work cut out for me.'

Just how much snow would pile up? I was a little worried.

To wrap up the day, I added more logs to the fire. Ideally, someone should stay awake to keep it going, but that was difficult under the circumstances. All I could do was pile on more firewood.

'Isn't there some kind of automatic firewood feeder?'

Something like that would be perfect. I brought the day to an end by settling down to sleep.

And then morning came...

"... Have you still not slept?"

"..."

The fire was still blazing away. And, of course, the speed-sloth was sitting in front of it. Had he actually been adding logs? Unbelievable.

'Still, at least he kept me warm.'

The entrance covering was no longer flapping, so the blizzard must have stopped overnight. I pushed the cloth aside to check outside—and stopped short.

"Huh?"

That was strange. Why wouldn't it budge? I had knocked away the stones holding it down, yet something was wrong. Had even the cloth frozen solid? No, that wasn't it. When I pulled instead of pushing, it came right toward me.

"... What is this?"

Instead, a pure white wall had formed behind the cloth. At first I wondered what it was, but realization soon dawned.

"Uh."

It was all snow. Hard-packed snow, at that. Just how much had fallen to block the entire cave entrance? I was rather taken aback.

But there was an even bigger problem. One directly tied to my survival.

'How am I supposed to clear all this?'

As if dumping garbage from the sky wasn't enough...

BANG! BANG!

"Aaaaaaagh!!!"

It had also taught me just how precious time was.

Hard at work "mining" the snow with my pickaxe, I shouted,

"There's someone in here!!!"